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
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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