An entertaining sendup of campus life.
Students launch a crusade to keep their campus from being strip-mined in Justus and Sturges’ graphic novel.
When gold is discovered beneath Rhode Island’s Halcyon Burke University, the greedy Board of Regents immediately resolves to bulldoze the campus so as to mine the trove more expeditiously. Standing in the way is the interim student government—they’re in office only over winter break—consisting of the president, Parker Myles, an idealistic coed; Malakai Lux, the nerdy secretary; Jean Genie, the nonbinary treasurer who finances the group with poker winnings; and nice-guy Vice President Hutch Hamlin. Their opposition to the university’s destruction gets a boost from an obscure provision in HBU’s charter: If the student government thinks the school is violating its principles, they can declare a “state of emergency” and call a referendum that could block the board’s plan. Their scheme is challenged when the permanent student government returns to campus and declares their support for bulldozing the campus. They’re headed by president Braden Carlock, a rich jerk whose dad is a regent, and Vice President Josh Garner, a rich dimwit whose only talent is improvising drinking games. (“I deal out two cards. Whatever they add up to, that’s how many drinks you take.”) Up against the wealth and cunning of the rich kids and the regents, Parker and her underdog posse seem so overmatched that even her mom tells her to give up. The story frames a broad satire of a college culture that, as in all campus comedies, is split between party animals, earnest misfits, and haughty hierarchs. The plot is full of cartoonish contrivances and the characters are stereotypes, but the stereotypes are sharply drawn and the gags are often funny and spot-on about the ridiculousness of academic folkways. (“Is it true that you once single-handedly dispersed a Nazi rally in Leeds with a flame-thrower?” gushes a starry-eyed Parker to her anarchist punk professor.) Joe Eisma’s well-executed art captures a wealth of expressive detail—pinched scowls, vapid smirks—that makes the characters more vibrant.
An entertaining sendup of campus life.Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781545816103
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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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