Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

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Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

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Buy Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Teens
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: James Donald
Reviewed by James Donald
Summary: This book is important. This book matters. This book will not get the publicity or wide acclaim that it deserves. This is a book that shows the power of positive thinking and that tackles sexism by never mentioning it. This is a highly entertaining and positive read that deserves all the success it can get.
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 336 Date: June 2017
Publisher: Egmont
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1405287661

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Doreen Green moves from California to New Jersey and, quite by accident, embarks on a journey to become a hero. A fantastic origin tale for the brilliant Squirrel Girl character this story is engaging, fast-paced, hip and extremely cool. What would a person be like if they had the proportional strength and agility of a squirrel? Wonder no more.

I was annoyed when this book arrived, I really was. Two authors on the listing and a Marvel tag to it; I was expecting a graphic novel. This isn't a graphic novel but a wonderful teen book suitable for all ages. Having just been on a journey of revenge, blood and destruction in my previous review this book was exactly the breath of fresh air I needed.

I really wanted to get on-board with this character and as such I was hoping that this would be a great graphic novel to hop-on with. Whilst this wasn't the case I got something better, a clean origin story that will make the main continuity easier to jump into. Squirrel Girl has a fascinating history as a character. She was created by the legendary Will Murray and Steve Ditko (or to give him his proper name Steve I invented Spider-Man along with Stan Lee Ditko). The idea behind her was to create a character who was positive, funny and light in comparison with the seriousness of the Marvel Universe. This, in itself, is ironic considering that Stan Lee set out to create a complex, grounded and angst ridden interconnecting world to separate it from the way DC portrayed their characters at the time.

As Squirrel Girl evolved she initially became the butt of various jokes and gained a campy following in lower tier books. Gradually, however, she gain the interest of fans and got more exposure. Eventually she became a joke in another way; she was literally unbeatable. A running gag that had her beat powerful characters off panel evolved into something far bigger. This little girl has beaten Wolverine, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Galactus and even Thanos! This trait does come up in the book but not until much later on.

It has been 20 years (TWENTY, count them!) since Buffy the Vampire Slayer started on TV (why don't we all forget the film?). It has been 22 years since Xena started. Since these ground-breaking characters forged the way for gender equality the world is now filled with tales of female heroes that appeal to men as well as women and never have to dwell on their gender as an issue to consider as a problem… um… Well… There is Raye in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Wonder Woman has a film coming out this year… but aside from that?

This is why this book is so important. Squirrel Girl is a hero for anyone regardless of gender. The fact that she is female never once is an issue in this story. We have an accessible character who should be inspirational to both boys and girls.

Hale and Hale craft a perfect 3 part story and use the story telling convention made most famous by George R R Martin, namely having each chapter be seen from the point of view of a different named character. This structure is used well and it adds extra interest when things could have dragged. Added onto this we see that our protagonist is reading the book with us and commenting on it (she asks that we don't think too much about this).

This is a light adventure that shows the coming of a new superhero and one who deserves her place alongside the Avengers. Positivity, great dialogue and wonderful writing craft realistic characters who pop off the page. The story is simple but I am not their target audience.

If you like this book try some of Shannon Hale's other work such as The Book of a Thousand Days.

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Buy Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale at Amazon.com.

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