Powerful storytelling based on documented experiences; despite being set in 2002, it’s as relevant as ever since the LRA is...
A graphic format adds heart-rending images to McKay’s violent 2008 tale of children kidnapped and forced to become soldiers in Uganda.
The book opens with an awareness-raising letter to readers from teen protagonist Kitina Jacob and a brutal preview to set the stage. The tale then takes him and schoolmates Tony, Paul and Norman into a sudden nightmare when soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army burst into their dormitory. After weeks of forced marches, vicious beatings and atrocities designed to turn them into uncaring killers, the captives escape with help from mutilated campmate Hannah and others—profoundly scarred but, ultimately, resilient enough to take back their lives. Switching from white to black borders between his panels during the time of captivity to intensify the atmosphere of terror, Lafrance puts shadows or at least a little visual distance between viewers and violent acts. Wrenchingly, though, he ramps up the immediacy and emotional intensity by cutting again and again to the wide-eyed, tear-stained faces of children forced to do or to witness those acts.
Powerful storytelling based on documented experiences; despite being set in 2002, it’s as relevant as ever since the LRA is still all-too-active. (afterword) (Graphic historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55451-489-2
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
Hip, steamy fun.
A small-town teen fond of taking on difficult boyfriends as "projects" acquires a taste for tougher challenges when her newest one turns into a giant bat.
"Vampires are like cockroaches. If you see one, you've got a few. If you see a few, you've got a lot." So explains Vanessa's mysterious but hunky new squeeze Jean-Paul after blowing his cover as a janitor by driving off an attacking band of preppy bloodsuckers—and then revealing that Vanessa herself is descended from a line of monster hunters, and he has been appointed her protector. Rescuing a beloved teacher from exsanguination (armed with industrial quantities of garlic powder and a shop-vac) not only proves the truth of Jean-Paul's observation but firms up Vanessa's vague career plans, too. Presented in graphic panels done in suitably gothic black and white and featuring both sharply drawn characters and plenty of snarky dialogue, this spirited standalone episode joins both its predecessors (I Love Him to Pieces and Made for Each Other) and the simultaneously publishing Under His Spell, by Marie P. Croall and illustrated by Hyeondo Park, as fine fare for Buffy fans of all...types.
Hip, steamy fun. (Graphic paranormal romance. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7078-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Among the most historically and culturally significant battles ever fought, Marathon gets righteous due—and so does its...
Retold in expressionistic blurs of action, this account of the battle of Marathon chronicles at once a glorious win for the underdogs and an awe-inspiring personal achievement.
Cruel Hippias, former king of Athens, is on his way back with a huge army of Persians to reclaim the throne and crush Athenian democracy. As the city’s squabbling and much smaller forces hustle to meet the invaders, Eucles, Athens’ best runner, is charged to race the 153 miles to Sparta in hopes of finding an ally. Battling heat, sun, bandits and pursuing enemy troops, Eucles makes the trek, then makes it in reverse with the dismaying news that the Spartans will not be coming in time. He joins the savage fight and then runs 26 more miles over rugged mountains to Athens—dying on arrival but not before both announcing the victory and warning of an impending surprise attack by sea. Using sepia washes to indicate present time and black and white for flashbacks, Infurnari fills patchwork panels with glimpses of rugged faces, slashing swords and jumbles of martial action with “KLAK” “CHK!” sound effects. Yakin draws from ancient historical and legendary sources but adds invented incidents to round out Eucles’ character and elevated dialogue to heighten the epic atmosphere: “The gods have laid a feast both bitter and sweet before me.”
Among the most historically and culturally significant battles ever fought, Marathon gets righteous due—and so does its greatest hero. (Graphic historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: June 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59643-680-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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