Family Month
Last month I celebrated my first Father’s Day as a father and this month River celebrates his first birthday. So this month’s newsletter is all about family. On to some family recommendations.
Song I’m Listening To
The Angel of 8th Ave. – Gang of Youths
I quite like Gang of Youths. So much so that Sophia and I inscribed one of their lyrics inside our wedding rings. So you get a bonus song rec this month. The Heart is a Muscle. Funny coincidence, they were in town the weekend we were out of town getting married. Would have loved to see the show but I think I made the right choice.
So I was pretty excited they dropped their first single in four years. The Angel of 8th Ave and it does not disappoint.
Book I’m Reading
Stepping Stones – Lucy Knisley
I love Lucy’s work. She does autobiographical comics about growing up, traveling, falling in and out of love, cooking, getting married, having a baby but this is her first venture into kid’s lit. Stepping Stones is based on her childhod but also has been fictionalized.
It’s a story about Jen and her mom moving from the city to the country to live with her mom’s new boyfriend and his kids.
I’m not sure what’s real and what is not but it’s a story I have not really seen in middle grade comics. Lucy doesn’t shy away from showing the conflict and things not always working out. It’s nice to read about a blended family. A lot of kids I think will likely appreciate seeing a story that reflects their own family dynamic.
Comic About My Son River
So had things gone according to plan, I would be doing this family edition of the newsletter in September. But River had other plans and was born 7 weeks early, so July is family month here at The Newsletter of Awesomeness. To say it was surprising and scary is an understatement. If the photo at the top wasn’t a clue, spoilers, it all worked out.
But going through it… It was a lot. I did a comic about it. 5 Pounds, 1 Ounce. You can read it here (scroll down).
Twitter Rec
Carlos is a 3D artist and did a contest on Twitter to do a 3D model of one of his Twitter follower’s characters and I won 🙂 Check out this super cool Niles model.
Woodland Hills Beta Reader
In other Woodland Hills related news, I am looking for a little feedback. I’m specifically interested in the opinions of kids 9-12 since that is the target audience but I am also curious to what other folks think (parents, teachers, comic readers). So if you’d like to read the first 20 pages, this is your chance. Here’s the link to the survey and sample pages.
And that’s what’s awesome this month. Thanks for reading!
-Josh
