An exciting and emotional supernatural story.
A teenage girl with newly discovered magical powers must keep her own father from destroying her community in Smith’s YA graphic novel.
Teenage Autumn hovers over the town. Once an ordinary girl, she’s now able to fly, talk to animals, and occasionally glow. She is one of the Night Folk, a secret community of supernatural creatures, but she also has typical teenage problems: Autumn struggles with math, works at a coffee shop, and resents her father for abandoning her family. (“My dad’s only magic power is disappearing.”) One day, she’s convinced that she’s spotted her father. Autumn is talking this over with her friend Evan when the man she thinks is her father stumbles into the bookstore where Evan works. They take the man to Evan’s apartment and put him to bed; he begins to levitate. While Autumn is out fetching her grandfather, the October King, her father, Tom, attacks her mother and runs off again. Autumn, Evan, and a supporting cast of supernatural characters work together to find out what happened to Tom and how they can stop him from harming others. Tom seems to have become something of a conspiracy theorist, but he may also be possessed by something called The Dark. Autumn learns that someone she considered a friend is also a part of this world, and she begins to doubt whether she can trust anyone. There’s a bit of adolescent angst to contend with, too. One note that pervades the narrative is a yearning that many YA readers teenagers will recognize—more than anything, Autumn wants her life to be how it was before she discovered the Night People existed, like a teenager uncomfortable with confronting the adult world and wanting to return to a more innocent time. This is the second book in a series, and readers will benefit from reading the first installment, as too much context is missing in the second novel for it to completely succeed as a stand-alone. But Smith’s art is lovely, the story moves along quickly, and the book has a compelling sense of suspense.
An exciting and emotional supernatural story.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781545826522
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios / Maverick
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Flipping awesome.
After a wish goes wrong, a girl and her crush must figure out how to break a body-switching curse.
Chi-Chi Ekeh feels invisible. Like her previous crushes, hot varsity swimmer Flip Henderson—yet another rich white boy at her Texas boarding school—seems unaware of her existence. With only weeks until graduation, Nigerian American Chi-Chi’s friends Esther and Yesenia dare her to ask Flip to Senior Festival. But Flip accidentally shows her promposal video to the whole class—and immediately turns her down. Embarrassed, Chi-Chi flees, but her innocent remark—“I just wish Flip Henderson liked me”—has unexpected consequences. After falling and hitting her head, Chi-Chi wakes up in Flip’s body, and he in hers. Freaked out beyond belief and regularly switching bodies, Chi-Chi and Flip work with Esther and Yesenia to break the curse. Meanwhile, forced to see herself through someone else’s eyes, Chi-Chi must confront uncomfortable feelings. There’s much to love about this book. The fully realized and sympathetic characters, sincere and humorous development of friendships, and protagonist’s relatable and bittersweet emotional journey will keep readers engaged, eager to reach the resolution. Ukazu carefully balances tough topics like self-hatred, depression, and suicidal ideation with funny feel-good moments, deftly rendered in her characteristically expressive style. The dynamic and engaging illustrations bring to life a heartwarming story of self-love, acceptance, and true connection.
Flipping awesome. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250179517
Page Count: 320
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Will appeal to manga fans but raises questions around depictions of racialized material.
An illustrated reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s most memorable tragedies.
From the very beginning of this clever adaptation, effort is made to prioritize accessibility of both the manga form and the classic Shakespearean play: The frontmatter briefly highlights the reading direction of the panels, and characters are labeled when introduced, coming to life via a striking combination of early modern Venetian dress; quintessential manga hairdos and facial expressions; and pronounced linework. Like the rest of the series, this account of Othello remains faithful to the original. The black-and-white illustrations allow for Iago’s conniving manipulations to manifest visually as well as animating characters’ bigotry in impactful, distressing ways. However, there are shortcomings: Where the original text may use parentheticals and asides to progress the story, the occasional appearance of parentheses in speech bubbles are a distracting reminder that comics utilize storytelling tools that haven’t been fully adopted here. Likewise, panel after panel of Othello’s turn to violence and his enraged face obscured by shadow provide a poignant dramatic effect but seem to exacerbate prejudices inherent to both the play and medium. Not only is the titular character visually distinguished from other characters by his shading, hair, lips, and overall size, unfortunately neither Shakespeare nor the illustrator seem wholly prepared for a contemporary conversation regarding racial representation in one of literature’s most infamous depictions of othering.
Will appeal to manga fans but raises questions around depictions of racialized material. (adapter’s notes, character designs) (Graphic fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-947808-13-3
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Manga Classics
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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