NENETL OF THE FORGOTTEN SPIRITS

Mexican children try to help a forgotten spirit reunite with her family in this middle-grade graphic novel.

In Mexico, the Day of the Dead celebrates the notion that “a person hasn’t truly died until that person is forgotten.” As the festival begins, a woman in skull makeup finds a boy sleeping in an alley among the trash. This is Jonah, whom she challenges to learn the difference between the living and the dead. She leaves him with the cryptic phrase “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Elsewhere in the city, a young woman named Nena plays hide-and-seek with a young man named Bastian. When he finds her, she offers to show him a secret. She leads him to a crypt full of skulls. By candlelight, he soon sees that she is also one of the dead. Earlier, a girl named Violetta tells her friends Daphne and Marguerite that on the Day of the Dead, the shroud between the worlds of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. The trio sneaks into a graveyard to light a candle and invite a forgotten spirit across the shroud. When they succeed, the spirit—who turns out to be Nena—says: “I find myself in requirement of a soul to continue building the rest of my body.” With the help of local priest Father Eduardo and Violetta’s brother, Eli, can the children discover who might remember the spirit of Nena? Greentea, with vibrant art by Müller, offers a spooky but emotionally bright middle-grade adventure. Fun motifs, like abandoned doll factories and single red balloons, pay homage to the horror genre. Witty moments that will shine for adult readers include Eli calling the skull-painted woman a “crackpot” only to receive her glare. Warm art, with almost no hard, black outlines, feels like a bridge to Disney films from the Lilo & Stitch (2002) era, prior to fully digital animation. Sharp-eyed readers should see clever narrative clues along the way, as when Nena’s foot briefly appears skeletal. Her red dress, like the balloon, spurs the audience toward a delightful solution to the problem faced by more than one character. Middle-grade readers will likely want to learn more about other cultures after this romp.

This exuberant, beautifully crafted tale introduces Mexico’s Day of the Dead to young adventure fans.