A successful reframing of a legendary historical figure in a fresh, relevant thematic framework.
Leonardo da Vinci gets a youthful, action-oriented makeover in this graphic novel series opener, written by Hamilton and illustrated by Matrone.
In this speculative take on the famed artist’s teen years, Leo’s apprenticeship with Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence leads to new experiments and friends, with whom Leo uncovers a sinister plot. After moving to the city with his emotionally distant father, Leo, who was born out of wedlock, bonds with Tano, a clumsy Tunisian adoptee, and Donna Filomena Sophia Ginevra Federica d’Este di Mina di Speranza, who goes by “Filomena”—a wealthy girl with a beguiling smile whom Leo nicknames “the Sphinx.” All of them lack agency in contemporary society in different ways. While hanging out, the three repeatedly encounter a mysterious and violent masked man, known as “the Venetian,” who threatens to unleash war, and they decide that they must figure out how to stop him. Factual biographical details—such as the backgrounds of Leonardo’s parents, his dissection and study of birds, and his apparent attraction to men—give the graphic novel some historical grounding. Hamilton takes liberties with the inclusion of modern-day speech and lightly comedic touches; one fellow apprentice at del Verrocchio’s, for instance, orders Leo to fetch “one caramel latte, two pumps, extra goat milk foam—that’s goat milk!” Other flourishes are not so clearly fictional, such as Leo’s graffiti and pig prank and the collapse of del Verrocchio’s studio, which may confuse younger readers who may be expecting historical accuracy. Still, Matrone’s cartoon-style, full-color art pays delightful homage to some of Leonardo’s real-life concepts, including his artistic shading and perspective techniques, his plans for flying machines with wings. and the sketch of the Vitruvian Man. The story’s treatment of such themes as class inequality, children’s agency, and the power of using one’s artistic voice to unite people ring true.
A successful reframing of a legendary historical figure in a fresh, relevant thematic framework.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781545823750
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
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