A fun, magical, time-hopping update on a decades-old TV series.
In this YA graphic novel based on a short-lived 1990s cartoon series, a football team takes up the mantle of King Arthur’s knights.
In the Middle Ages, Morgana and her warlord, Viper, manage to defeat Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, banishing them to Morgana’s Cave of Glass. To further cement her victory, Morgana binds Merlin to the battlefield, where he’ll be stuck for eternity, watching as she conquers Camelot. Fortunately, the magic-wielding Lady of the Table manages to free the wizard’s spirit, allowing him to travel throughout time to find 12 men to take on the mantle of the Knights of Justice. In the present day, a young man named Arthur King has just led Chalopin High’s football team, the Knights, to victory against the Warlords. While the teammates discuss the game in the locker room, they’re transported back to the Middle Ages, where Merlin and the Lady of the Table explain that they’ve been chosen as the world’s best chance to defeat Morgana, and that “for a time” they shall be the new King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. The Lady of the Table grants them knowledge of various combat strategies and gives Arthur the legendary sword Excalibur. But if the true King Arthur couldn’t defeat the most powerful sorceress in the world, how will this Arthur and his teammates succeed? In this graphic novel suitable for ages 12 and older, writer Corallo and illustrator Cardinalli present a thrilling story of teamwork, magic, and legends that updates the original material upon which it’s based. This reboot features a diverse cast, including characters of various ethnicities, and (unlike the original animated series) a same-sex relationship. Overall, this entertaining, well-illustrated graphic novel maintains the visual style of its source, although it’s somewhat bloodier, as well as darker in tone. Although this book contains a complete story, there are hints at the end that this may be the first of a new graphic-novel series, and readers will likely be eager for more.
A fun, magical, time-hopping update on a decades-old TV series.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 978-1960578600
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A warm hug of a tale.
Four friends grapple with everyday challenges.
For Hazelton High juniors Sasha, Christine, Abby, and Brit, the new school year brings new trials. Sasha struggles to balance her love life and academic aspirations. Scholastically minded Brit finds herself in a love triangle between a good-hearted grump and a handsome playboy. Abby feels anxiety about her once-popular blog and putting a label on her sexual orientation when confusing new feelings emerge. Christine fears coming out to Abby (although she is out to Brit and Sasha), on whom she’s harbored a long and tortuous crush that she worries will destroy their friendship. The girls navigate timely and important issues like establishing and communicating boundaries, defining one’s sexual orientation, righting miscommunications, and (staying in the vein of its predecessor, 2020’s Go With the Flow) menstrual equity. Williams and Schneemann’s warm and engaging graphic novel is a welcome return to this world, with vibrant art; short, episodic chapters; fast pacing; and the right blend of tension and sweetness. The group’s dynamics and communication skills as they work through their issues are commendable, modeling openness and honesty and leaving aside cattiness and drama. The main cast is diverse and inclusive, showing a range of skin tones, body sizes, and sexual orientations.
A warm hug of a tale. (authors’ note) (Graphic fiction. 11-16)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781250834102
Page Count: 336
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A timely and well-paced story of personal discovery.
Time travel brings a girl closer to someone she’s never known.
Sixteen-year-old Kiku, who is Japanese and white, only knows bits and pieces of her family history. While on a trip with her mother to San Francisco from their Seattle home, they search for her grandmother’s childhood home. While waiting for her mother, who goes inside to explore the mall now standing there, a mysterious fog envelops Kiku and displaces her to a theater in the past where a girl is playing the violin. The gifted musician is Ernestina Teranishi, who Kiku later confirms is her late grandmother. To Kiku’s dismay, the fog continues to transport her, eventually dropping her down next door to Ernestina’s family in a World War II Japanese American internment camp. The clean illustrations in soothing browns and blues convey the characters’ intense emotions. Hughes takes inspiration from her own family’s story, deftly balancing complicated national history with explorations of cultural dislocation and biracial identity. As Kiku processes her experiences, Hughes draws parallels to President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban and the incarceration of migrant children. The emotional connection between Kiku and her grandmother is underdeveloped; despite their being neighbors, Ernestina appears briefly and feels elusive to both Kiku and readers up to the very end. Despite some loose ends, readers will gain insights to the Japanese American incarceration and feel called to activism.
A timely and well-paced story of personal discovery. (photographs, author’s note, glossary, further reading) (Graphic historical fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19353-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
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