The Midwinter Witch completes the trilogy Molly Knox Ostertag began with The Witch Boy and continued with The Hidden Witch. Aster, the boy witch, and Ariel, his new friend (who’s a bit undisciplined in her abilities), are attempting to catch up on their magic training. The family is preparing for the Festival, a gathering of all the extended relatives that also features a magical competition to crown the Midwinter Witch. Aster wants to compete, for the first time, but there […]

Raina Telgemeier’s latest book, Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story, puts a workshop course between covers. Her many devout fans will find this journal, full of prompts and activities, a friendly guide to making their own comics. After a welcoming introduction, there are four chapters, each focusing on one of Telgemeier’s books: Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts. The first, covering Smile, is the longest, with the most detail about Telgemeier’s creative process and short lessons on […]

I’ve adored Andy Runton’s Owly since I saw it over a decade ago. The first book, The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer, was originally published in 2004, fifteen years ago. It was unique for being wordless and adorable, far from the then-usual material for an indy comic company and creator. The comic business has come a long way since then. There are many more markets, including the ever-growing kids’ comics audience, and a lot more options for publishing. So […]

The sixth installment of the super-popular Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel series revolves around a major, life-changing event. Kristy’s mom is getting married, which means Kristy is moving to a new, bigger house in a different neighborhood. The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Big Day is by Gale Galligan, based on the novel by Ann M. Martin. The club is now made up of six members, and Kristy worries about how she’ll stay president once she moves. She’s counting on having one last […]

I was anticipating Ru Xu’s EndGames, the sequel to NewsPrints, because I enjoyed the previous book, a steampunk-y tale of the first girl newsboy in a world at war. Unfortunately, EndGames was almost exactly what I didn’t want to read. I missed the individual character work with Blue and Crow, the AI built to fly warplanes. Instead, it’s a story of two countries at war and the machinations involved with empire-building and hereditary royalty. Given that the two lands are […]

Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Witch Boy was a wonderfully fresh take on the idea of being raised by a family of magic users. Aster learned to be a witch even though boys were supposed to be shape-shifters, and that breaking of gender-determined roles made the story modern and relatable. I liked the sequel, The Hidden Witch, even better. Now that the background and characters have been established, Ostertag has more space for story, and this one touches on some deep […]

Kristen Gudsnuk’s Making Friends freshens up the idea of “kid gets magic way to make life changes, learns what true friendship is” with a layer of magical-girl media influences. Danielle is struggling with being separated from her friends now that she’s in seventh grade. Feeling lonely, she draws a picture of Prince Neptune (the evil-but-cool villain on the Solar Sisters cartoon she watches) in Great-Aunt Elma’s notebook, only for him to appear! He’s still got his magical powers, but more […]