A patchwork conglomeration that does not quite hit its mark.
Determined to avenge her father’s death, a young girl adopts a vigilante persona.
In a time of swords, full skirts, tricorn hats, and horse-drawn carriages, 18-year-old Maud lives in the quaint French village of Perigord with her beloved father, a blacksmith. When Maud’s father is viciously murdered one night, she vows to head to Paris for vindication and finds herself staying with her estranged, aristocratic grandfather, a man who thinks it best that she become ladylike and marry quickly. Tired of rigid social mores and inspired by a Robin Hood–esque masked man only known as the Fox, Maud decides to become the Scarlet Rose, a do-gooder working under the cloak of darkness (and clad in plunging bodice, very tight breeches, and thigh-high boots). Originally published over a decade ago in French, this quirky graphic import seems to rely on its heavily stylized, full-color, anime-inspired art to overcome narrative incoherence. Lyfoung’s plotting feels like a clunky pastiche of Robin Hood and The Scarlet Pimpernel set against a lavish, evidently all-white pre-revolutionary backdrop. The panels, while small and orderly, are quite busy and crowded, working in unfortunate opposition to the detailed nuance of the time period. Maud embodies a stark dichotomy, quickly shifting from an independent and smart female character to a ditzier one who falls in insta-love and becomes irritatingly clingy. It ends with an unsurprising cliffhanger, but demand for subsequent volumes may be low.
A patchwork conglomeration that does not quite hit its mark. (Graphic adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62991-827-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze
Summer adventures begin when Bina accidentally locks herself out of her house in Larson’s newest middle-grade graphic novel.
The summer before eighth grade is a season of self-discovery for many 13-year-olds, including Bina, when her best friend heads off to soccer camp and leaves her alone to navigate a SoCal summer. Without athletic Austin around to steer the ship, Bina must pursue her own passions, such as discovering new bands and rocking out on her electric guitar. Unexpected friendships bloom, and new members are welcomed into her family. Though her sphere grows over the summer, friendship with Austin is strained when he returns, and Bina must learn to embrace the proverb to make new friends but keep the old. As her mother wisely observes, “you’re more you every day,” and by the end of summer Bina is more comfortable in her own skin and ready to rock eighth grade. Larson’s panels are superb at revealing emotional conflict, subtext, and humor within the deceptively simple third-person limited plot, allowing characters to grow and develop emotionally over only a few spreads. She also does a laudable job of depicting a diverse community for Bina to call home. Though Bina’s ethnicity is never overtly identified, her racial ambiguity lends greater universality to her story. (In the two-toned apricot, black, and white panels, Bina and her mother have the same black hair and gold skin, while her dad is white, as is Austin.)
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze . (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30485-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
PROFILES
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
