A riff on classic teen tropes with a poignant emotional arc and vivid, fantastical illustrations.
Hawkins’ supernatural graphic novel follows a teenager facing a difficult choice between family expectations and what’s right.
Rising high school basketball star Cam Banter can’t even miss one pass without igniting the fiery anger of his gruff father Julien, who is determined to raise his son to win at all costs—both on and off the court. At the same time, the new coach, Damien Castle, is trying to instill a sense of morals and team cohesion into his players (“We are a team and no one should turn on the other just because they had a bad game”). Damien butts heads with Julien immediately, creating a tension that puts Cam in an awkward position. Cam also has trouble containing his volatile outbursts. His anger is the result of more than regular hormones—Cam and his father are werewolves and members of a vicious pack that use their powers to get ahead. Coach Damien himself is also a “shifter” with the ability to turn into a panther; he recognizes Cam’s potential and hopes to steer him toward a path of using his powers responsibly. As the wolf in Cam starts to rear its furry head, he has to choose between his father’s unrelenting aggression and his coach’s calmer wisdom. As Cam bounces back and forth between these two competing visions of adulthood, Di Meglio’s illustrations call back to classic comic strips with vibrant colors and a vintage style of square-jawed, all-American jocks. The artwork becomes even more fun when the supernatural elements come into play, allowing Di Meglio to create some great panels of half-men/half-wolves dunking shots and growling at each other. Hawkins’ use of shapeshifting as a coming-of-age metaphor does not feel like anything new—the basic setup will call to mind classic high school films like Teen Wolf—but Cam’s uneasy choice between his father’s brutality and his coach’s emphasis on responsibility and duty creates a rich dynamic to drive the entire story. Fans of supernatural high school stories will appreciate that this wild fantasy shoots for a story grounded in real emotions.
A riff on classic teen tropes with a poignant emotional arc and vivid, fantastical illustrations.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781545815991
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
