Larson’s admiration and respect for the original text shines through; this is an adaptation done right.
A faithfully adapted graphic novel of the beloved 1962 classic, just in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
With a keen eye, Eisner Award winner Larson (Mercury, 2010) doesn't stray a moment from L'Engle’s original text, following the Murry children, Charles Wallace and Meg, and their friend, Calvin O’Keefe, as they tesser through outer space looking for Meg and Charles Wallace's lost father. Larson's illustrations are clear and concise, neatly ordered across each page with a tidy sensibility. While it is an amazingly envisioned and sophisticatedly stylized offering, some purists may be slightly put off by the three-color black, white and blue palette. It's difficult to see The Man with Red Eyes with baby blue eyes, or to miss out on her rainbow wings when Mrs. Whatsit morphs into the centaurlike creature on Uriel. Minor grievances aside, this is a stunning reimagining of L'Engle’s Newbery-winning tale, and it should entrance old and new readers alike. Adaptations can be difficult to execute with style and grace; Larson manages to do both and still add her own flair.
Larson’s admiration and respect for the original text shines through; this is an adaptation done right. (Graphic fantasy. 9-14)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-374-38615-3
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305677-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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