Catalyst
Bob Harvey
Synergy Books
ISBN 1933538384

I agreed to take a look at this book because the concept of how it's printed sounded interesting -- the wave of the future--the next evolution of graphic novels, with different backgrounds on every page, different fonts and colors highlighting key words; this new type of printing was developed to snag your interest and keep you enthralled and entertained.

Catalyst is about Justin Eagleton, You Too--the cat who adopts him, and the apartment building fire that brings a sense of family and purpose into the lives of the people who call the place home. The story is very well-written. Quite honestly, though very colorful and neat to look at, the KaleidoScript printing distracted me right out of the story, rather than keeping me interested--as it was meant to do. This I discovered after my daughter, who was originally assigned this review, just couldn't get into the story.

Both avid readers, we both had just too hard a time with all the color and font changes to be able to read the whole thing. BUT don't consider this a total loss. My other daughter, who only reads when forced by her teachers, thought the book was "totally cool" and asked if she could keep it.

This new technology may be just the thing to entice teenagers, who normally wouldn't even dream of touching a book, into cracking one open--but even that won't last long without great storytelling, which Bob Harvey does deliver on. This reader wishes that a "plain" version of the story were available so she could also enjoy a well-written tale, but without the distractions. Keep in mind that what is distracting to one is engrossing to another.

The "Me & You Too" series, by Bob Harvey, and it's interesting new printing technology is definitely worth a look. It may be the wave of the future, or, as it was put to me, the evolution of the graphic novel. I'm all for it if it'll get my teenager to turn off the TV and crack open a book.

Reviewed by Lisa Ramaglia, Scribes World

Available from   Amazon.com.

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