A tough, ambitious, and courageous heroine is always welcome, and Margo and Charles are an odd couple kids will enjoy...
In the grand tradition of childhood adventures executed free from adult interference, this graphic novel takes readers on escapades involving two young monster hunters and the ghosts, goblins, and other wicked beasties lurking in the underbelly of their city.
Reluctantly relocated to a fictional location reminiscent of New York City, Charles takes up residence with his mother and father in a dilapidated historic hotel where he soon makes two new friends: Kevin, a black boy determined to set a world record of some sort, and Margo Maloo, self-styled “monster mediator,” a brown-skinned, pointy-featured girl whose glossy black hair flips in a manner strangely reminiscent of the collar of Dracula's cape. Charles is an endearing underdog, a chubby white boy who alphabetizes his personal library by subject and pours his aspiring journalistic ambitions into his blog. Over the course of three chapters, Margo helps Charles with the monster that emerges from his closet and, after some badgering, allows him to tag along as she answers pleas from other monster-plagued humans. Frequent humorous touches temper the fear factor for younger readers, while references to more advanced concepts such as gentrification add depth for older ones. Clever dialogue enhances this intriguing and multilayered story set in a fully realized world of monster and human coexistence.
A tough, ambitious, and courageous heroine is always welcome, and Margo and Charles are an odd couple kids will enjoy rooting for. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-339-9
Page Count: 130
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming balance of cartoon and natural kitty-ness in full-color, eight-panel pages, this cat's-eye view of life will...
Miss Annie might just be a kitten, but she’s ready for adventure.
Four-month-old Miss Annie lives with The Dad, The Mom and young mistress Sarah—all of whom readers only see from the thighs down. Miss Annie defends her territory against potted plants and ventures on to The Dad’s desk despite stern warnings because pens and erasers are amusing. After all, there is little that a roll on the back and a purr can’t fix where humans are concerned. Miss Annie’s fondest wish is to go outside despite her mouse friend Keshia’s warnings of danger. When a window’s accidentally left open, Miss Annie leaps at the opportunity and meets old Zeno and beautiful Persian Rostropovna, who teach her about dogs and cars and invite her out to run the rooftops at night. Prolific French cartoonist Le Gall teams with debut graphic-novel illustrator Balthazar and colorist Doo for this first of two simultaneously published urban kitty adventures. In Rooftop Cat, Miss Annie gets a cat door, participates in a neighborhood cat fight with unfortunate results for Zeno and finds a male “friend” for Keshia.
A charming balance of cartoon and natural kitty-ness in full-color, eight-panel pages, this cat's-eye view of life will induce purrs in feline fans everywhere. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8546-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Ten-year-old Lilly is perfectly content to be hauled around the world by her scientist parents in pursuit of boomerang beetles and lily pad leeches. So when they decide to leave her behind with her gray-as-dust great-uncle Ernest (a librarian!) while they head for the Shipwreck Islands to study the frangipangi fruit fly, she’s crushed. One day chez Uncle Ernest, a flock of homing seagulls delivers an ominous note from her parents: “Have hit reef, sinkin.” The next thing Lilly knows, she’s on a sailboat on her way to rescue them, lost at sea with the frumpy-fierce pirate Mrs. Teagarden: “Aye, well, that’s a problem, trusting pirates. Even if ye’re a pirate yerself,” she says. Lilly, a notorious worrywart, especially about the treacherous sea, finds her fears blasted away by the ocean spray when she bravely takes the tiller of Last Chance. This transformation from skittish bookworm to swashbuckling pirate girl is the real buried treasure in this enjoyably preposterous, emotionally resonant, library-revering adventure. Shepperson’s cartoonish pencil illustrations are as wonderfully detailed, action-packed and good-humored as the story. (Adventure. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-583-6
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
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