by Rebecca Donner & illustrated by Inaki Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2008
Novelist Donner tries her hand at graphic novels in this new offering in the Minx line. Relocated to the Pacific Northwest by her mother, Danni is thrust into a new household with her mother’s temperamental alcoholic boyfriend, Hank, and his enigmatic son Haskell. Strangely assigned to room together by Hank, Danni falls for her brooding almost-stepbrother and shockingly discovers that he is an eco-terrorist. Both Danni’s and her mother’s destructive relationships compellingly demonstrate how smart girls’ bad choices can land them in troubling situations. Danni is a likable character, and her flaws and missteps should resonate with any teen girl who has ever fallen for the wrong boy. Miranda’s art, sweeping and cinematic in scope, greatly complements Donner’s writing, which takes some convenient plot liberties that lead to an unsettling—albeit understandable—ending. Written in a familiar, teen-novel voice, this should appeal to fans of such other Minx titles as Cecil Castelucci’s The P.L.A.I.N. Janes, who are looking for a darker, less sassy read. (Graphic novel. YA)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1537-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Minx/DC Comics
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2008
Share your opinion of this book
More by Rebecca Donner
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
edited by Rebecca Donner
adapted by Gareth Hinds & illustrated by Gareth Hinds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2010
Hinds adds another magnificent adaptation to his oeuvre (King Lear, 2009, etc.) with this stunning graphic retelling of Homer’s epic. Following Odysseus’s journey to return home to his beloved wife, Penelope, readers are transported into a world that easily combines the realistic and the fantastic. Gods mingle with the mortals, and not heeding their warnings could lead to quick danger; being mere men, Odysseus and his crew often make hasty errors in judgment and must face challenging consequences. Lush watercolors move with fluid lines throughout this reimagining. The artist’s use of color is especially striking: His battle scenes are ample, bloodily scarlet affairs, and Polyphemus’s cave is a stifling orange; he depicts the underworld as a colorless, mirthless void, domestic spaces in warm tans, the all-encircling sea in a light Mediterranean blue and some of the far-away islands in almost tangibly growing greens. Don’t confuse this hefty, respectful adaptation with some of the other recent ones; this one holds nothing back and is proudly, grittily realistic rather than cheerfully cartoonish. Big, bold, beautiful. (notes) (Graphic classic. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4266-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kristin Cashore
BOOK REVIEW
by Kristin Cashore ; adapted by Gareth Hinds ; illustrated by Gareth Hinds
BOOK REVIEW
adapted by Gareth Hinds ; illustrated by Gareth Hinds
BOOK REVIEW
by Gareth Hinds illustrated by Gareth Hinds
by Mariko Tamaki ; illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019
A triumphant queer coming-of-age story that will make your heart ache and soar.
A 17-year-old struggles to navigate friendship and finding herself while navigating a toxic relationship.
Biracial (East Asian and white) high schooler Freddy is in love with white Laura Dean. She can’t help it—Laura oozes cool. But while Freddy’s friends are always supportive of her, they can’t understand why she stays with Laura. Laura cheats on Freddy, gaslights and emotionally manipulates her, and fetishizes her. After Laura breaks up with her for a third time, Freddy writes to an advice columnist and, at the recommendation of her best friend Doodle, (reluctantly) sees a psychic who advises her that in order to break out of the cycle of her “non-monogamous swing-your-partner wormhole,” Freddy needs to do the breaking up herself. As she struggles to fall out of love and figure out how to “break up with someone who’s broken up with me,” Freddy slowly begins to be drawn back into Laura’s orbit, challenging her relationships with her friends as she searches for happiness. Tamaki (Supergirl, 2018, etc.) explores the nuances of both romantic and platonic relationships with raw tenderness and honesty. Valero-O’Connell’s (Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks, 2018, etc.) art is realistic and expressive, bringing the characters to life through dynamic grayscale illustrations featuring highlights of millennial pink. Freddy and her friends live in Berkeley, California, and have a diversity of body shapes, gender expressions, sexualities, and skin tones.
A triumphant queer coming-of-age story that will make your heart ache and soar. (Graphic novel. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62672-259-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jillian Tamaki
BOOK REVIEW
by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki ; illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.