Nowak creates raw female characters and, by spotlighting them, demands that they be seen.
Slice-of-life stories depict women navigating awkward and tender moments of connection in young adulthood.
Five stories (four previously published, the earliest two newly colored) reveal everyday women in everyday situations even if the settings may be slightly fantastical. A would-be astronaut-turned-farmer is infatuated with the girl next door. Kelly encourages Beth to be more adventurous at a fantasy market. Diana embraces companionship with a robot boyfriend. Mary and La-La record a podcast about a cult movie few of its fans have ever seen. Jess and Gwen spend a romantic and surreal couple of days in a cabin. The collection has a multiracial cast of young adults and teenagers and presents body types of varying size and physical ability with no judgment. These women drink, smoke, and bare their bodies. While Nowak (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2018, etc.) has refined her artistic technique, her style remains cohesive throughout, with pronounced outlines and unapologetic characters of both angles and curves. Except for some first-person narration in the title story, Nowak relates the narratives through dialogue and reality-check moments, some quiet, some direct. The stories deny readers any firm resolution, arriving at potential stopping points, then going a step beyond. Older readers, especially female-identifying ones, can share moments of intimacy with these characters.
Nowak creates raw female characters and, by spotlighting them, demands that they be seen. (Graphic novel. 14-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-60309-438-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Top Shelf Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Flipping awesome.
After a wish goes wrong, a girl and her crush must figure out how to break a body-switching curse.
Chi-Chi Ekeh feels invisible. Like her previous crushes, hot varsity swimmer Flip Henderson—yet another rich white boy at her Texas boarding school—seems unaware of her existence. With only weeks until graduation, Nigerian American Chi-Chi’s friends Esther and Yesenia dare her to ask Flip to Senior Festival. But Flip accidentally shows her promposal video to the whole class—and immediately turns her down. Embarrassed, Chi-Chi flees, but her innocent remark—“I just wish Flip Henderson liked me”—has unexpected consequences. After falling and hitting her head, Chi-Chi wakes up in Flip’s body, and he in hers. Freaked out beyond belief and regularly switching bodies, Chi-Chi and Flip work with Esther and Yesenia to break the curse. Meanwhile, forced to see herself through someone else’s eyes, Chi-Chi must confront uncomfortable feelings. There’s much to love about this book. The fully realized and sympathetic characters, sincere and humorous development of friendships, and protagonist’s relatable and bittersweet emotional journey will keep readers engaged, eager to reach the resolution. Ukazu carefully balances tough topics like self-hatred, depression, and suicidal ideation with funny feel-good moments, deftly rendered in her characteristically expressive style. The dynamic and engaging illustrations bring to life a heartwarming story of self-love, acceptance, and true connection.
Flipping awesome. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250179517
Page Count: 320
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Hinds adds another magnificent adaptation to his oeuvre (King Lear, 2009, etc.) with this stunning graphic retelling of Homer’s epic. Following Odysseus’s journey to return home to his beloved wife, Penelope, readers are transported into a world that easily combines the realistic and the fantastic. Gods mingle with the mortals, and not heeding their warnings could lead to quick danger; being mere men, Odysseus and his crew often make hasty errors in judgment and must face challenging consequences. Lush watercolors move with fluid lines throughout this reimagining. The artist’s use of color is especially striking: His battle scenes are ample, bloodily scarlet affairs, and Polyphemus’s cave is a stifling orange; he depicts the underworld as a colorless, mirthless void, domestic spaces in warm tans, the all-encircling sea in a light Mediterranean blue and some of the far-away islands in almost tangibly growing greens. Don’t confuse this hefty, respectful adaptation with some of the other recent ones; this one holds nothing back and is proudly, grittily realistic rather than cheerfully cartoonish. Big, bold, beautiful. (notes) (Graphic classic. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4266-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
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