From Eisner-Award nominated writer Marika McCoola and debut artist Aatmaja Pandya, an emotional coming-of-age graphic novel for fans of Bloom and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.
Right before Jade is about to leave for a summer art intensive, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. How is Jade supposed to focus on herself right now?
But at the Art Farm, Jade has artistic opportunities she’s been waiting for her whole life. And as she gets to know her classmates, she begins to fall for whimsical, upbeat, comfortable-in-her-own-skin Mary. Jade pours herself into making ceramic monsters that vent her stress and insecurities, but when she puts her creatures in the kiln, something unreal happens: they come to life. And they’re taking a stand: if Jade won’t confront her problems, her problems are going to confront her, including the scariest of them all—if Jade grows, prospers, and even falls in love this summer, is she leaving Phoebe behind?
Two-color illustrations.
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Gr 9 Up-Heavy with guilt over her best friend Phoebe's suicide attempt, Jade heads to sleep-away camp at the Art Farm. As Jade attempts to distract herself, she struggles to stay present at the camp and makes novice mistakes with her kiln, which destroys pieces created by her fellow campers. Mary, a romantic prospect, temporarily attracts Jade's attention and focus in a positive direction, but when Jade's Phoebe-inspired sculptures come to life and wreak havoc, her mind returns to the dark place she's been working to escape from all summer. Making expert use of white space and color, Pandya's sketchy, expressive artwork illustrates McCoola's shifting tones. Though the layout occasionally makes following dialogue difficult, overall this graphic novel successfully brings the story to life via symbolism and figurative language coupled with deeply developed characters. There are mature, elegant depictions of human anatomy within a character's portfolio. Mary and Jade appear to be Asian, while Phoebe appears to be white. VERDICT With themes ranging from mental health to self-discovery, this art-infused text will entice graphic novel fans and art students and leave them wanting another installment of Jade's story.-Angie Jameson