MY OWN WORLD

As his beloved older brother becomes increasingly ill, Nathan seeks refuge inside a secret magical world.

Nine-year-old Nathan doesn’t have many friends and is often at odds with his chaotic family. He likes spending time with his teenage brother, Ben, but sometimes Ben would rather hang out with his own friends. One day, while making a quick getaway from local bullies’ secret hideout, Nathan stumbles upon a magic portal. Inside, he has the ability to make creations from his imagination. He uses glowing red light to craft tunnels, a pirate ship, creatures, and more. Best of all, no time passes in the real world while he is there. The only thing better would be to share it with someone, but by the time Nathan realizes that, the crisis of Ben’s illness takes priority. Real-world scenes are rendered in a muted palette of yellow, green, and blue. While this makes it clearly distinct from the interesting portal world of bright red and white on black, the realistic setting of 1990 British Columbia is less visually appealing. Panels and text bubbles are easy to follow, but the plot itself is often vague and culminates in a rushed, ambiguous ending that may not satisfy some. A lot of emotion is subtly packed into this quick read about loneliness and escapism, and perceptive readers may enjoy poring over details and forming their own ideas of what is real. Characters appear White.

Emotionally resonant but ultimately underwhelming.