An endearing tale of food and camaraderie, served in an animated fashion.
Estranged friends paired up in a cooking competition get the chance to repair their relationship in Tobin’s YA graphic novel.
Layne Green and Jang-Mi Pipper discovered their love of cooking together as children. Now teenagers, they’ve each become social media stars with loads of followers. They’re also no longer friends; Layne pulled a thoughtless stunt that severed their relationship. As luck would have it, the two wind up as a team on Voyage de Gourmet, a culinary show in which competitors vie for fame and a cash prize. Layne and Jang-Mi will face off against six other teams in challenges taking place around the world. The tasks are grueling, including scouring a Sumatran jungle for ingredients and cooking while blindfolded; if the former friends want a shot at winning, they’ll have to rely on one another. Maybe Jang-Mi can learn to trust Layne again, if he can only find the right way to say he’s sorry to the girl he betrayed. Tobin’s exuberant story takes readers on a global trek. The contestants, who compete in such beautiful settings as Brussels and Huangshan City, hail from a variety of locales, from Japan to Australia. It’s fun to follow the characters as they bond with others on opposing teams, although the easy-to-hate team that gets along with no one is equally entertaining (“Flip’s dad is the CEO of the Red Range Cigarette Company; Flop’s family made their fortune in plastic packaging”). The highlight of the story is the drama between Layne and Jang-Mi, who, with effort from both, may get back what they’ve lost. Humor is abundant, especially in the form of Frog, Jang-Mi’s adorable, ever-barking dog (who often lends a helping paw), and in the portrayal of the loud, gleefully overdramatic Voyage host, Bombo Arjuna. Milton’s anime-style illustrations match the narrative’s energy with colorful, exaggerated facial cues and bouts of action.
An endearing tale of food and camaraderie, served in an animated fashion.Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2023
ISBN: 978-1545800669
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2023
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 2024 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.
