Castellucci,
Cecil, and Nate Powell. The Year of the
Beasts. Macmillan/ Roaring Brook Press 175p $16.99 978-1-59643-686-2 ms/hs E-BN Graphic novel
Tessa has a crush on Charlie, and she and her best
friend are planning a double date, but at the last minute Tessa’s mother tells her she must take
her sister Lulu. Then the unthinkable
happens -- Charlie falls for Lulu
-- and although Tessa tries to be happy for her sister, this betrayal hurts
too much.
Tessa and her sister were finally old
enough to go to the carnival by themselves. Tessa had invited her best friend
to go with them. They were going to meet
Charlie and his friend at the carnival. When they get there,
somehow Charlie
and Lulu are paired up for one of the rides. Tessa
is not sure what has happened, but by the end of the night she knows that she has lost Charlie to
her sister.
Jealousy rears its ugly head as Tessa
must deal with the fact that she is the odd man out, while everyone
around her is paired up, and, in addition, her best
friend Cecil has become very good friends with Lulu. She is not sure how it all happened, but she is overcome by rage at being left out and is finding it
hard to be friends with her own sister, who she feels betrayed her.
Through all of this turmoil we see a
graphic novel developing between the
chapters that brings the ugliness of the whole situation out into the
open while it festers in Tessa’s heart. The summer ends tragically, and the loss is overwhelming for everyone, making the teen
romance almost a fond memory of the past.
The novel includes great art work! The story interlaces itself throughout the book
creating an eerie feeling of dread. This
is a must-read book!
Graphic novels,
Romance-Fiction, Suspense-Fiction --Magna
Diaz
No comments:
Post a Comment