An entertaining piratical yarn with loads of action and series potential.
A young woman sets sail to reunite with her father—the king of pirates—in this 17th-century graphic novel adventure.
On an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean lives Julie, whose gunpowder experiments occasionally leave her homes in ruins. She’s no longer safe there, or so longtime friends (and pirate crew members) Maxime and Stephane tell her: An enemy of her king-of-pirates father has evidently tracked Julie down. Maxime and Stephane bring her aboard the Golden Dolphin so they can take her to her father, whom she hasn’t seen in years. But the Lady of the Sun, a formidable warrior who claims that Julie’s dad murdered her child, is right at their heels. She and her minions chase the Golden Dolphin through a storm and onto the island of Santa Lucia. Julie’s much-anticipated reunion with the pirate king may not be a happy one, with secrets she doesn’t want to learn gradually coming to light. Frigerio’s story features a delightful, valiant hero—Julie shows off her homemade explosives with panache (“I’m okay! I just got the amount of gunpowder wrong”) and earnestly trains to fight with her father’s old sword. She has an unmistakable closeness with the paternal Maxime and Stephane, who are more like fathers to her than her own, and she faces off against wonderfully mysterious villains. As the narrative progresses, glimpses of the larger world peek through, including the watery streets of an almost dreamlike Santa Lucia, a run-in with a charming Spanish governor, and the Lady of the Sun’s illuminating backstory. Fiery action scenes unfold on sea and land, complete with clashing blades and things that go boom. It all leads to an ending that promises sequels to follow. Pigliamosche’s anime-style artwork uses muted pastels to sublimely depict Julie’s world, limning such remarkable moments as resplendent fish popping out of the ocean surface and an unexpectedly serene nighttime sequence.
An entertaining piratical yarn with loads of action and series potential.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781952303593
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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