A delightfully spirited adventure.
A girl gets sucked into a doomed, gothic-themed universe.
Obsessed with gothic romances like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, bookworm Haley sees her moment to shine when, while on her way home from school, she spots a mysterious man drowning. Her heroic efforts to rescue him transport her to a gothic manor straight out of the novels she holds dear. She awakens in Willowweep Manor, where she meets foreboding housekeeper Wilhelmina, young lords Laurence and Cuthbert, and resident ghost Cecily. It emerges that middle brother Montague, whom she saved earlier, is missing. The brothers recruit Haley to help them save their gasket universe—a small universe that acts as a safeguard to protect the larger ones in the multiverse—from the Bile, manifested here as a sinister friar, that threatens to take over. She must repair the Infernal Device that keeps their universe safe. Though each individual has prescribed roles according to various literary conventions, they must decide to act differently if they wish to save their worlds from evil. The dark color palette fits perfectly with the mystery and many gothic tropes; Baldwin effectively uses varied perspectives to create dramatic visuals. This well-paced and humorous graphic novel will appeal to readers looking for a triumphant story about being in charge of your own narrative. Haley is Black; the inhabitants of Willowweep read as White.
A delightfully spirited adventure. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6087-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning.
A young witch whose magic has been burned away undertakes healing journeys both physical and metaphorical in this graphic novel that was first serialized on Instagram.
Mingling riveting illustrations that incorporate fades, flashbacks, and other cinematic effects with a typographically venturesome narrative, Dhaliwal tells a tale of heroic exploits in which allegorical elements are never far beneath the surface. Burned at the stake but rescued by a pair of helpful (if often annoying) witches on a quest of their own, dark-skinned young “Singe” goes in search of her real name and the rest of her burned-away memories, as well as her lost magic, while her body slowly recovers. Along the way to a climax on the shores of Perish Lake, she meets other witches—notably Smoke Witch, a collective gathering of burnt but still aware ashes that rides the night wind—and engages in desperate struggles with three powerful, vividly portrayed demons: Disgust, Doubt, and Despair. The author’s imagination and graphic skills outpace her literary chops, but there’s plenty of entertaining friction and bonding in the colorfully wrought cast, and more than enough action in the plot to make it easy to overlook awkward phrasings and inappropriate word choices. Said plot does take some arbitrary turns, perhaps so that the ending can be left conveniently open. Still, it’s a grand adventure in a richly articulated setting, featuring a racially diverse cast and clever twists aplenty.
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781770466999
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
A timely and well-paced story of personal discovery.
Time travel brings a girl closer to someone she’s never known.
Sixteen-year-old Kiku, who is Japanese and white, only knows bits and pieces of her family history. While on a trip with her mother to San Francisco from their Seattle home, they search for her grandmother’s childhood home. While waiting for her mother, who goes inside to explore the mall now standing there, a mysterious fog envelops Kiku and displaces her to a theater in the past where a girl is playing the violin. The gifted musician is Ernestina Teranishi, who Kiku later confirms is her late grandmother. To Kiku’s dismay, the fog continues to transport her, eventually dropping her down next door to Ernestina’s family in a World War II Japanese American internment camp. The clean illustrations in soothing browns and blues convey the characters’ intense emotions. Hughes takes inspiration from her own family’s story, deftly balancing complicated national history with explorations of cultural dislocation and biracial identity. As Kiku processes her experiences, Hughes draws parallels to President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban and the incarceration of migrant children. The emotional connection between Kiku and her grandmother is underdeveloped; despite their being neighbors, Ernestina appears briefly and feels elusive to both Kiku and readers up to the very end. Despite some loose ends, readers will gain insights to the Japanese American incarceration and feel called to activism.
A timely and well-paced story of personal discovery. (photographs, author’s note, glossary, further reading) (Graphic historical fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19353-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
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