Keep An Eye Out For. . .The Good Neighbors: Kin AND Tales From Outer Suburbia

I'm really excited because two of my favorite illustrated works will soon be on the shelves at the library.

The Good Neighbors, book one: Kin is written by Holly Black and illustrated by Ted Naifeh.

Rue is 16. Her mother has just disappeared and her father can't seem to function. To make matters worse, she has started seeing strange things around town: people with wings and strange faces, plants that grow where they shouldn't. Is she losing her mind? Or is her town full of faeries?

This is a dark tale illustrated with angular, punk-ish images. One reason I love this book so much is that I'm a fan of Holly Black's teen faerie books (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside). When I read The Good Neighbors, I kept picturing some of the characters from Holly's other books in the way that artist Ted Naifeh had drawn Rue and her friends. It was pretty cool to kind of have a visual interpretation of Holly's characters that I'd been reading about for so long.


Then we have Shaun Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia. This is one of my most favorite illustrated books EVER. Shaun's style is what you might call "whimsical", what with the strange little creatures and situations he comes up with. He also throws in some dark tones to keep things a bit balanced.

Tales From Outer Suburbia is 15 stories, illustrated and odd, and is some of the most creative, strange storytelling I've ever read. I love it! While you're waiting for the book to show up on our shelves, check out Shaun Tan's website to for some illustrations and excerpts from his book.



While you're waiting, try these titles!