Read ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Promise’ and you’ll give it five stars too

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 2 by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nicklelodeon’s The Promise, a continuation of Avatar Aang’s adventure as the Avatar is as colorful and captivating as the show itself. This book was downloaded from Netgalley as an eBook so I had to enlarge and scroll to each section of the picture. It truly was a joy to read this book which is broken down in three parts.

The Harmony Restoration Movement
Avatar Aang and FirelordZuko is trying to push for harmony in Yu Dao in the Earth Kingdom. This means kicking out the fire nation to restore balance. The problem is that citizens of Yu Dao have mingled and intermarried with each other, so you have new people with earthbending ability but who wear the fire nation colors! Such as Kori, whose father is fire Nation and mother is from the Earth Kingdom. I thought that was truly unique but it causes Zuko to debate within himself—again. Why should he kick his own people out for a movement? He consults with his father Ozai about this.

The Promise
In the beginning of the book, Zuko asks Avatar Aang to promise him something Huge. It is enough to destroy their friendship and all the Aang believes in. This is the hinge of the entire book.

Overall Reaction
My overall reaction to the book is that it was absolutely gorgeous storytelling. Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru done an excellent job with the written story and artwork and I look forward to more on this series. A perfect book for all ages!

*The end leaves room for more books to come, hopefully.

This book was received for my unbiased review for Dark Horse Books courtesy of Netgalley

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Two different books, one tells the story, marketing uses story

Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I chose plenty of narratives and stories to read while curled up on the couch. The words were so inspiring and so real, it punches the soul and takes you to the place in Africa country, or African hearts in America.

The slave narratives, although gritty and real, provided words of encouragement for today. Words by Maria Stewart and “Old Elizabeth”

“I mourned sore like a dove and chattered forth my sorrow, moaning in the corners of the field, and under the fences.”

From Elizabeth(“Old Elizabeth”)[1863]- spent first thirty years in bondage in Maryland and at the age of forty-two began preaching career.

This is just a piece of the intelligent, soulful writing from women in the past. This is why the book received five stars from me and I hope others sample more from this book of biblical proportions.

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StoryBranding: Creating Stand-Out Brands Through The Power of Story by Jim Signorelli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As someone who writes stories and is interested in how to market brands for others, Jim Signorelli’s book, StoryBranding is right on time and because there was just so much information, I decided to focus on a couple of real key items which unlocked my perspective some on the brand marketing idea.

First, Jim Signorelli’s definition of a story goes like this: “A narrative about a character dealing with some obstacle to achieve some important goal” (p.31) With this in mind he tells us that both prospects and brands have an obstacle to cross and the barrier can only be broken down once we know the prospect’s inner and outer layer and the brand’s inner and outer layers. He brings on a bus load of examples of how to’s and what not to dos using McDonald’s, Denny’s, Oldsmobile and Old Spice as brands to study.

Second, Signorelli offers a review of basic principles at the end of each chapter so it sort of clarifies things for you if you’re feeling overwhelmed or just a simple study guide.
The downside could be the simple misspellings found in the book, but then again, it was an uncorrected proof and is probably fixed at this time.

If you’re looking for a book which cajoles you to think outside of the box and if you are reading to try your creative minds in learning how to tell a story, the marketing communications way, the this book is definitely for you.

Book Details:
StoryBranding
Author: Jim Signorelli
Published: Greenleaf Book Group Press(2012)
ISBN: 978-1-60832-145-2
228p

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