A creative and beautiful celebration of nature through poetry and art.
A union of poems from different eras, reinterpreted through artist Peters’ comics.
The 26 entries in this graphic anthology, which is divided by seasons—summer, autumn, winter, and spring—offer a stunning ode to nature poetry. Following each graphic narrative, the full text of the poem appears, allowing readers to meet it in its original form. Peters employs a wide variety of artistic styles and media, reflecting varied themes of connectedness to nature, including celebration, grief, and love. The sense of apprehension in Gwendolyn Brooks’ “Truth” is recast as climate anxiety, with images of natural disasters, pollution, and a calving glacier. The text within the panels in Joy Harjo’s “The Land Is a Poem” is laid out in a way that encourages readers to take time to dwell on each phrase. One section gathers moon-themed haikus by Matsuo Bashō, Masaoka Shiki, and Ueda Chōshū, translated by R.H. Blyth, offering a pause and allowing for quiet reflection. The collection includes names that will be widely familiar—like Langston Hughes, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Robert Burns, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Christina Rossetti, and William Wordsworth—but readers also encounter Dominican exile Rhina P. Espaillat, Tang Dynasty Chinese poet Li Po, and contemporary Texan Mary Karr. While the work would have been enhanced by more contributions from the Global South, the thoughtful execution infuses the verses with new meaning and lends itself to rich discussion.
A creative and beautiful celebration of nature through poetry and art. (sources) (Graphic poetry anthology. 12-18)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781636081748
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Plough
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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