Great Realistic Fiction Graphic Novel

books:

	• The Plain Janes (Minx) Cecil Castellucci Minx, 2007 - 176 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Subversive acts of beauty

The characters are a bit one-dimensional stereotypes who would likely never be caught dead together in real life (I mean, how many artsy kids had only a close jock pal and science geek pal in high school, or vv? And where are the stoners? :-)) but despite this bit of fantasy, I found The Plain Janes a good read. The theme of guerrilla art is an excellent one for teenaged grrls; a creative, undergrround way to personal and collective empowerment through beauty. What better message could there be? Add to that the way the art projects gradually sucked in not only all of the fringe kids, giving them hope and but even a socialite, showing something deeper beneath her shiny facade. I gave it only 4 stars due to the ending, which I found unsatisfying (mild spoiler) re: Damon, but the takeaway is, this story builds bridges in a joyful, subversive way.

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Empowering

A friend of mine gave me this book; he thought I would really enjoy the different personalities of the girls with the same name. I wasn't so sure. I really don't like teen angst or girls who are into cliques and fitting in, but boy was I wrong. I was immediately sucked into the story. The lead character, Jane, has to leave her home in Metro City due to a terrorist attack and finds her self in a small suburb of the city all alone. I loved watching Jane find her niche in the small town. She finally finds where she wanted to be: with the other Janes. It was interesting to see how determined she was to make friends with these girls even though they didn't want anything to do with her or each other for that matter. Each of the girls had something they wanted to do, none of them were a like, which eventually brought them all together. The girls decide to form a group called P.L.A.I.N. (people loving art in neighborhoods) and jazz up their suburb by making objects throughout the town into large pieces of art. This causes many of the adults in town to think that the kids are destroying their simple, small town life and impose strict rules for all teenagers. Now that all that is said, there is a whole side story with the main Jane, which I didn't see coming and it really exposed me to what teens go through when they have been involved in a major disaster and how they deal with other teens and adults. It really is a book about growing older, dealing with boys and real world problems. Some of the dialogue bothered me, it was boring at times and I didn't necessarily have to be told some of things that they said. But I guess that comes with the graphic novel territory. I highly recommend this book for girls around 13-16; these girls deal with things that most teenage girls can relate to. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a quick and easy read and for a person who doesn't read all that often it's a miracle! This book definitely got me in touch with my inner PLAIN Jane.

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So good!

Hi all! I just finished reading the graphic novel The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg. I had never really read a graphic novel before. It was a great experience. The story is plain (get it? ) enough: Jane moves from the big city to suburbia after surviving a bomb explosion. She is dealing with despair and feelings of fear and doubt when she meets the other Janes. Together, they unite to make suburbia and the world a friendlier and more beautiful place to live. This, of course, has its consequences. The story was very engrossing and the illustrations moved along the action very well. It was nice, for a change, to actually see the story on the page rather than in my head. I believe that all people, young and old, in the world today can identify with the feelings and views in the story. Even though it's a quick read, it leaves a lasting impression.

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Great Realistic Fiction Graphic Novel

Teenagers, who like graphic novels, should definitely read this book. Once I started reading The Plain Janes, I could not put the book down. It makes you stop to think about the differences between living in a big city and the suburbs. Another positive thing about the book is that it you can read it in a short amount of time. As a teenager, it is easy to relate to the issues discussed in The Plain Janes. I also like the new direction the genre of graphic novels is heading. Instead of being about superheroes, it is about teenagers with real problems in high school.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Noted young adult novelist Cecil Castellucci and artist Jim Rugg launch MINX with THE PLAIN JANES, a story about four girls named Jane who sit at the reject table at lunch.

When transfer student Jane is forced to move from the confines of Metro City to Suburbia, she thinks her life is over. But there in the lunch room at the reject table she finds her tribe: three other girls named Jane. Main Jane encourages them to form a secret art gang and paint the town P.L.A.I.N. -- People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. But can art attacks really save the hell that is high school?

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