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A picture of the lovely cover of April Daniel’s Dreadnought!

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Halsey. (2019, May 17). Halsey - Nightmare [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_dqfcvTZik

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Dreadnought BookTalk!

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The ending theme of the 2019 reboot!

Funimation. (2019, August 14). Fruits Basket – Ending Theme – Lucky Ending [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NfnDVBY7CI

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"Paper Towns" by Vernon Barford School Library is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

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Takaya, N. (Writer), & Ibata, Y. (Director). (2019, April 6). I'm Going (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In, Fruits Basket. TMS Entertainment.

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Another cover photo!

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Another cover screenshot!

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Screenshot of this beautiful cover!

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Here’s the opening I remember from the original show!

Funimation. (2017, August 24). Fruits Basket – Opening Theme (English) – For Fruits Basket [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLPFh6mpnPQ

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A screenshot of the cover of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian!

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Review of Dreadnought by April Daniels

What would you do if you were suddenly given super-powers? What would you do if those super-powers changed your body into what you’ve always wanted it to be but now superheroes want you to fight for them for their own reasons and there’s a supervillain out there that needs to be stopped? What would you do if you were 15 when all this happened to you? This is what happens to Danny Tozer. Although Danny was born a boy, she knows in her heart and soul that she is a girl. Danny is viscerally uncomfortable in her male body, agonized by the expectations of society and her parents to demonstrate maleness. She has researched hormone therapy and sex change operations and waits anxiously for the day she turns 18 and is able to move out on her own and become herself. In the meantime she pretends. She joins the football team to appease her father (‘s fragile masculinity) and avoids friendships with girls. The only form of true self-expression Danny allows herself is to once a week catch a train across the city to the mall to buy nail polish, and hide behind the building to paint her toenails. It is her one relief. This is what Danny is doing at the beginning of April Daniels’ book Dreadnought. Then suddenly, as Danny examines her toenails, she is the unfortunate witness to a superhero fight between the legendary Dreadnought and an unheard-of villain, Utopia. To Danny’s shock, Utopia mortally wounds Dreadnought, knocking him out of the sky and practically to Danny’s feet. Danny desperately drags Dreadnought behind cover, but he is already dying. Dreadnought, feeling that his abilities are still needed, passes his power and his mantle on to Danny. This transference triggers a change in Danny, re-shaping her body to match her internal ideal image. It makes her a girl on the outside to match how she has always felt on the inside. Thus starts Danny’s journey as she navigates her new body, her new powers, and her new life. She struggles with her parents seeing her transition and trying to convince her to receive hormone therapy to “fix her,” a changing relationship with her best friend, and getting to know the super-hero team Dreadnought belonged to, and figuring out who this new villain is and what she wants. Danny’s got her work cut out for her. Funny and heart-breaking, empowering and crushing, this first book in April Daniels’ Nemesis series is an emotional roller-coaster ride simulating the ups and downs of teenage-dom, the power in figuring out who you are, and the devastating effect prejudice and an un-supportive family can have on a person. Danny is gorgeous. April Daniels is unflinching in painting Danny’s thoughts in paper, making her very easy to relate to, and I loved the creativity shown in building the super-hero cast of the book, and in how Daniels still managed to make the super-characters human (almost) with flaws of their own. Would absolutely recommend to teens. 2018 The Amelia Bloomer Book List Lambda Literary Award Finalist Daniels, A. (2017). Dreadnought (Nemesis). DiversionBooks.

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Canon-Thought. (Artist). (2020, March 10). Dreadnought [Digital Image]. Deviant Art. https://www.deviantart.com/canon-thought/art/Dreadnought-833344263

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PlayStation Access. (2020, April 16). Final Fantasy VII Remake - 15 Essential Tips For Beginners [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJXEqOwSiEQ

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Review of Final Fantasy VII Remake

           Ahhh, Final Fantasy VII. Beloved across generations. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous and very excited about this game being remade, in the same way that I get nervous and excited when books I love get turned into movies or TV-shows. I knew that I was most likely either going to be thrilled or dreadfully disappointed. LUCKILY – I am thrilled – so far. It’s so refreshing to get to dive back into this world and relearn it from corner to corner, and to see what made the original game so incredible re-worked but not lost. You play most of the game as the main protagonist Cloud Strife, a terse ex-soldier turned mercenary turned freedom fighter. The game opens with Cloud taking a job to help an underground eco-terrorist insurgent group called Avalanche plant a bomb intended to destroy a mako reactor controlled by the Shinra Electric Power Company, or Shinra Inc. in the city of Midgar. Mako is the liquid form of the planet’s “lifestream,” a river of spiritual energy that moves through the planet, and the mako reactors tap into that spiritual energy and process it to generate electricity (an interpretation of nuclear energy) or condense it into materia – orbs that give their holders the ability to cast magic. Shinra holds a total monopoly over the production of energy using mako reactors, and uses this influence and its own military (which Cloud used to be a member of) to essentially control more or less the entire world, with the city of Midgard at its base. Avalanche opposes the use of mako to generate energy because of the harm it does to the environment, and directly opposes Shinra because of its production of that energy and because of the oppressiveness of the corporation’s rule, particularly among the slums of Midgard. While at first, Cloud agrees to take the job as a favor to his childhood friend Tifa Lockhart (and because he needs the money) in exchange for her help spreading the word about his availability as a mercenary, but as the game progresses, Cloud and Avalanche become increasingly involved with each other.

           Elements such as terrorism, oppression, severe poverty, and in particular the focus on environmental preservation in this game give it a sense of realism and a provides a great opportunity for teens to connect with a cause they might feel strongly about. The game also features dynamic and loveable characters, intuitive gameplay and battle system, and beautiful graphics. Strongly recommend, I think teens will love it.

Tetsuya, N. (2020). Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4 version)[Video game]. Yoshinori Kitase.

PlayStation Editors’ Choice award

CDEDEC Excellency Award for Sound

2020 IGN Japan’s Game of the Year

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Leah Ivey. (2016, September 14). Pony Reads Johnny’s Letter The Outsiders [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPzHEDsvtWg

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Review of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas