The richly satisfying conclusion won’t keep readers from demanding a third volume.
Addie has finally made her big score: Does that mean she and her little sister can escape the Spill Zone?
When the Spill occurred three years ago, Addie and Lexa’s parents became two of the thousands of floating corpses in the wasteland that was Poughkeepsie, New York. Addie has made ends meet by selling photographs of the bizarre conditions inside the Zone, and she possesses growing paranormal abilities thanks to a very close encounter with “the dust.” Now that she’s sold an artifact from the Zone for $1 million, she can leave. However, Lexa’s possessed rag doll, Vespertine, has other ideas for the family, and the North Koreans—who had a similar incident—have sent their Spill survivor, a youth named Don Jae, to investigate conditions in Poughkeepsie. Of course, the American government has their eyes on the situation too. Vespertine’s eventual revelations about the nature of the Spill harden Addie’s resolve to get out…but also make the situation so much more complex. Bestseller Westerfeld’s (Nexus, 2018, etc.) second installment is the quintessential page-turner. Groundwork laid in the first volume pays off in nearly nonstop action here. Puvilland’s (Spill Zone, 2017, etc.) colorful, jagged, totally alien art is the perfect partner for this trippy tale. Addie and Lexa are white, Jae is Korean, and there is diversity in secondary characters.
The richly satisfying conclusion won’t keep readers from demanding a third volume. (Graphic novel. 12-adult)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-150-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A warm, sweet, lovely tale of a world readers will want to live in.
In a not-so-distant future where changing one’s physical features is as easy as purchasing nanobot mods, Sunati falls for Austen, a girl who always looks the same.
Since Austen never changes, Sunati admires what she assumes is her bravery and confidence. As Sunati and Austen chat more, Austen bluntly asks Sunati if she only wants to get to know her more because of her medical condition, which prevents her from using mods. As they gradually grow closer, Sunati learns how to interact more respectfully with those who have overactive immune systems as well as to share her feelings more honestly. Austen, in turn, learns to trust Sunati. This beautifully illustrated slice-of-life tale that shows two young women of color getting to know each other and creating a relationship is so warm and charming that readers will hardly notice how much they are learning about how to better interact with folx who are different from themselves and the importance of not making assumptions. The story also successfully weaves in agender, genderfluid, and asexual characters as well as the subjects of parenting and colorism into the natural arc of Sunati and Austen’s developing story. The soft, romantic artwork evokes hazy watercolors. The speech bubbles are predominantly pink and blue, and the varied layout will maintain readers’ interest.
A warm, sweet, lovely tale of a world readers will want to live in. (Graphic romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4998-1110-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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