A shrewd and spirited adaptation that will leave audiences hoping for another installment.
The action of this graphic fantasy takes place Second Star to the Right, straight on through the Looking Glass, in a place that is definitely not Kansas anymore!
Novelist Weir (yes, the Weir of The Martian fame) and cartoonist/illustrator Andersen’s deliciously funny debut team-up reunites the heroines from three of the Victorian era’s most memorable children’s books and sends them on a rollicking adventure. All teenagers, Wendy Darling, Dorothy Gale, and Alice Liddell are united at a special research facility where their parents send them to be educated. Under the tutelage of the enigmatic Dr. Rutherford and the ever watchful eye of a certain nanny who flies via umbrella, each girl discovers her powers and a sense of personal agency as they team up to free their respective fantasy lands from the combined menace of the Wicked Witch of the West and Capt. Hook. Each heroine emerges as a fully three-dimensional protagonist with a distinctive personality that enables her to feel both timeless and timely. The tart-tongued Alice is not averse to dropping the occasional “#%$@,” while tomboyish Wendy is as battle savvy as Peter ever was. Andersen’s delightful cartoon drawing style meshes perfectly with Weir’s prose, allowing the work to broaden its appeal beyond middle graders to young adults and adults. In the illustrations, Alice and Wendy both present white while Dorothy has brown skin.
A shrewd and spirited adaptation that will leave audiences hoping for another installment. (Fantasy. 12-adult)Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-58207-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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