A pleasant romp for plot-happy readers.
On a journey to save his parents, a boy gets lost in an enchanted forest in this new graphic fantasy.
After retrieving medicine from a nearby village, Kerry is desperate to find the quickest way home to his ailing parents. When he finds a childlike spirit at the edge of the Forest of Shadows, he follows her into the woods, hoping for a shortcut. Soon, Kerry comes across a large, kite-shaped black stone with one singular piercing yellow eye. Floating above the ground and called the Knight of the Road, the creature is a Waystone whose role is to help travelers find safe passage through the forest. The last of his kind, he agrees to help Kerry navigate the perilous wood. But their journey isn’t easy, and Kerry’s naïve, earnest, and trusting personality sometimes grates on the grumpy, mysterious Waystone. When they learn that an evil force is vying for control of the forest’s creatures, Kerry must decide if he will attempt to free everyone from its spell, endangering both himself and his parents, or return home quickly to his sick family. While some of the plotting, particularly the denouement, feels contrived, readers will be happy to find such a tidy, happy ending. Overall, characterization takes a back seat to plot and adventure, an emphasis furthered by the simplicity of characters’ facial features. Character sheets, including a guide to creating your own character, and early concept art are included in the back.
A pleasant romp for plot-happy readers. (Graphic fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12523-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
A winner.
When a young girl’s imagination and creativity are co-opted by a mysterious new friend, she must find a way to regain what is rightfully hers.
Sandy is a brown-skinned, dark-haired girl with big black eyes and a vivid imagination. At night, as she goes to sleep, she catches the lights bobbing about in her room and turns them into anything she imagines. The next day is spent drawing the fantastical creatures from her dreams, much to the detriment of her schoolwork. When a tall, pale-skinned girl with purple hair befriends her, Sandy is excited, though there is something eerie and unsettling about her new companion. Her excitement soon turns to anger as Morfie enters her imaginative nighttime world and tries to take it over. Readers will cheer at the clever way in which Sandy regains control. Using a lovely palette that includes a liberal amount of rich, dark purple, Colombian-born Alvarez has drawn a world that harks back to her native Bogotá and days in Catholic school, evoking it in wonderful detail and atmosphere. Her pages are not crowded yet are filled with details that will engage readers. The beings that inhabit Sandy’s nighttime world are simply delightful. The album size, cloth spine binding, and spot gloss on the cover are the icing on the cake of this beautiful graphic novel.
A winner. (Graphic fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910620-13-7
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Nobrow Ltd.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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