Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol

 

Anya’s Ghost.

Vera Brosgol – author and illustrator. (2011). Publisher: First Second(:01): New York. Hardcover. ISBN: 978-1596437135.

Author website: http://verabee.com/index.html

Media: Watercolor, pen and ink.

Genre: Graphic novel, multicultural, horror

Annotation

A lonely teenage girl struggling with everyday problems encounters and befriends a ghost. Only there is a problem, what happens if this ghost is less Casper and more poltergeist?

Plot Summary

Anya, an angst ridden teenage girl who is an imigrant from Russia going to a Catholic school in suburban Massachusetts, wants to fit into mainstream teenage culture and wants to be popular. She tries to assimilate and blend in with her peers. For example, she went to speech therapy to lose her accent, dresses like the other girls, she eats American foods, and she rejects the Russian food (Cblphnkh) that her mother cooks because it is Russian and weight self-consciousness.

Anya is leaving high school one day when she trips and falls down a well in a park.  Terrified that she is doomed to perish in the well, Anya discovers that she is not alone. There is a ghost girl and skeleton from 1918 with her. When she is finally rescued, she discovers that the ghost had an ulterior motive. The ghost, Emily, has followed her home. At first, the ghost is helpful. The ghost assists with course work, gives her intel about a boy she has a crush on, boosts her confidence, provides style advice, and so on. The ghost seems like a supportive friend that teenagers often want.

But, as the story progresses, Anya starts to realize that the ghost’s story isn’t quite right. As the ghost becomes more co-dependent, demanding, erratic, and scheming Anya begins to suspect that the ghost is leaving out information and decides to investigate the said story. She discovers that there is more to the ghost and the story and that her family might be in danger.

My thoughts

This is a good young adult graphic novel for teens and is popular for many reasons. Social anxiety, body image, friendship, health, peer pressure, family difficulties, and assimilation are issues that are effectively addressed in this graphic novel. 

Anya, as a character, is so relatable for many teenage girls. She is a combination of social outcast rebellion and intelligent but insecure wallflower. The character progresses through the story and in the end she realizes that the popular kids have issues below the surface. Anya ultimately becomes more secure with her own being and confident that she doesn’t have to fit in with the popular kids.

The illustrations are monochromatic done in black and white with a touch of purple toned grey. The lines are thick and smoothly in a typical graphic style. Anya is drawn as a curvy girl with dark hair and freckles.

A couple of red flags: One personal concern that I have is that the character does smoke cigarettes (and cut classes) through the first part of the book. This characterization of the rebel smoker is cliché and perhaps causes teenage girls to smoke. The characterization adds to the problem even though the character confronts the habit in the final pages of the book. In addition, there is underage drinking at the party that changes her views about popularity. Overall, the spooky supernatural themes are mild and there is no overt violence.

Curricular connections

Popular for teenage girls.

Literary Devices:
Use of onomatopoeia: beep! Beeeep!, Clap!, pant pant, gasp, tweet tweet, briiiing, whip, duck, rrrring, sizzle, krak, thump, tug, and THUD.

Use of Simile: “You may look normal like everyone else, but you're not. Not on the inside.”

Reading level/ Interest Age

 Younger high school.

Reviews and Awards

Cybils awards 2011 in the Graphic Novel category

Booklist starred review

Kirkus starred review

School Library Journal starred review

“Anya’s Ghost is a masterpiece, of YA literature and of comics.”—Neil Gaiman

"Remarkable. . . . with an attitude and aptitude reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) who likewise conveyed the particulars of an immigrant adolescence, Brosgol has created a smart, funny and compassionate portrait of someone who, for all her sulking and sneering, is the kind of daughter many parents would like to have. And the kind of girl many of us maybe once were.” -- The New York Times

Cinderella Skeleton by Robert Souci and David Catrow

Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. Souci and David Catrow

Robert D. Souci- Author. David Catrow- Illustrator. San Diego: Silver Whistle/Harcourt, 2000. 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0152050696.

Author website: http://www.rsansouci.com/

Ilustrator website: http://www.catrow.com/

Media: Pencil and watercolor.

Genre: Fairytale/ folklore, Halloween

Annotation

A retelling of the classic fairytale, Cinderella, told in a rhyming macabre verse, with characters that are ghoulish skeletons, and is set in a graveyard. In this story, however, Cinderella Skeleton loses more than her shoe.

My thoughts

Cinderella Skeleton is another retelling of the timeless fairytale with a touch of Tim Burtonesque dark humor that should draw giggles out of unexpecting audiences. Cinderella, as most expecting audiences know, is traditionally a story of unjust oppression and triumphant reward. There are thousands of Cinderella stories adding up to millions of words that generally fall into these same concepts and storyline. Cinderella is bullied by her stepsisters and mother, finds escape in a ball thrown by the Prince, also finds love in the ball, loses love, she finds love again, and then the happy ending.

The words for most Cinderella stories stay mostly the same. Except for the words in Cinderella Skeleton. This poetic rhyming book is very different than other versions of Cinderella. Through rhyme, alliteration, and its ghoulish concept, Robert D. San Souci makes this a unique and cleverly written tale that becomes more about the experience of the language rather than Cinderella’s standardized plight. Examples of alliteration in this story are “decayed decrepit/ withered wreath/ common clay/ pursuing prince/ witch’s warning/ burnished bones.”

In addition, this storyline and setting is completely displaced from the ordinary and usual version because of the unique slant. This is a story of the undead dead and takes place in a graveyard and its mausoleums. In contrast to the traditional character, this Cinderella “hung up cobwebs everyplace, arranged dead flowers in a vase, littering the floor with dust and leaves, fed the bats beneath the eaves: she shad no time for rest or fun.”

Contributing to the text are David Catrow’s spooky illustrations that compliment the lushness of the language. The skeleton stepmother is adorned is a lush fur collared dress while the stepsisters are more skeleton’s do fou-fou. Color schemes suggest the sunset, night, or sunrise with the exception of a bright yellow spread dedicated to the moment of Cinderella’s first connection with Prince Charnel. They add just the right amount of spooky creepy to keep the book light and humorous.

The challenging vocabulary, complex rhyme scheme, and the macabre theme made this book more suitable for readers in Grades 3-7 than preschoolers or a Halloween storytime for older listeners. I found this copy at the Taipei Public Library Da’An (Main) Branch.  

As a side note, I recognize that this might not be considered an “outstanding” picture book. The one that I was going to write about, American Born Chinese, is only considered to have folklore as a subgenre. I still would recommend it because it includes a basic telling of Monkey King and is a good book, but I did not know if it ‘qualified’ for this discussion post since the folklore part was not the book’s main focus. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to investigate an adequate pictorial Monkey King/ Journey to the West this week, but it will make it onto my blog when I find it. I love the stories of Monkey King.

C01總館
398.2 S229	1	書刊	Due: 2012/7/11

Literary Devices
Use of Rhyme

Cinderella Skeleton

Heard Charnel say, “Your beauty burns

Like bonfires ablaze at night.

Your brightness fills me with delight!

Dance with me, lady, I implore.”

She smiled; he led her to the floor,

Where they waltzed with

Graceful dips and turns.

Use of Alliteration:

decayed decrepit/ withered wreath/ common clay/ pursuing prince/ witch’s warning/ burnished bones

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grades 3-7