Fantasy and reality collide in this spring’s teen graphic novels when a group of amusement-park princesses gang up to fight some bad guys in Part-Time Princesses and thousands of gamers get trapped inside an online game in Log Horizon. This season’s books also include romantic comedy, a new Shakespeare adaptation, the final volume of the “Hatter M” graphic novels, and two nonfiction books—one about economics and the other on the assassination that started World War I—that look at some of the human factors that changed history.
BEDDOR, Frank and Liz Cavalier. Hatter M: Love of Wonder. Vol. 5. illus. by Sami Makkonen. 160p. Automatic Pictures. Mar. 2015. Tr. ISBN 9780989222167.
Gr 9 Up—This volume wraps up Beddor’s graphic novel series about what really happened in Wonderland. The “Hatter M” novels are a spin-off of his prose trilogy “The Looking Glass Wars” (Dial), and they follow Hatter Madigan (based on the Mad Hatter of Lewis Carroll’s tale) as he searches for Alyss (Alice). The series is darker and grittier than the original Alice in Wonderland and is illustrated in a scratchy, painterly style that fits the story well.
CUNNINGHAM, Darryl. The Age of Selfishness. 240p. Abrams. Mar. 2015. Tr. ISBN 9781419715983.
Gr 9 Up—You know how teenagers seem to fall in love with Ayn Rand and libertarianism? This book is the antidote to that. Darryl Cunningham, who debunked all sorts of bad science in How to Fake a Moon Landing, takes on economics in this book, starting with an unsparing biography of Rand and going on to explain the nuts and bolts of banking and the factors that led to the crash of 2007—including the actions of Rand’s disciple, Alan Greenspan.
GALLAGHER, Monica. Part-Time Princesses. 168p. Oni Pr. Mar. 2015. pap. ISBN 9781620102176.
Gr 8 Up—Sometimes being a princess is just a job, and for Courtney, Amber, Tiffany, and Michelle, it’s a summer job—they play fairy tale princesses in a slightly seedy theme park. When their post–high-school plans suddenly evaporate, they start taking those jobs more seriously, getting involved in running the park and fighting off a mysterious crime wave. This book gets bonus diversity points for including a plus-size character and a same-sex couple among the lead characters—and not making a big deal about it.
HINDS, Gareth. Macbeth. by William Shakespeare, adapt. and illus. by Gareth Hinds. 152p. Feb. 2015. Tr. ISBN 9780763669430.
Gr 7 Up—Hinds, who has done much-lauded adaptations of Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Merchant of Venice, turns his hand to the Scottish play, condensing the dialogue but keeping Shakespeare’s language and voice intact.
LASKO-GROSS, Miss. Henni. 168p. Z2. Jan. 2015. pap. ISBN 9781940878027.
Gr 9 Up—This story is a tale of struggle against religious and social oppression, set in a fantasy world with characters who look human but have catlike features. Henni is a young girl living in a village ruled by a repressive and corrupt religious hierarchy; her father was murdered for being a dissenter, and she has her own doubts about the beliefs everyone else seems to hold without question. Facing the prospect of an arranged marriage, she runs away and is taken in by townspeople in another village—but finds a different struggle awaiting her there.
REGER, Rob with Mariah Huehner and Cat Farris. Emily and the Strangers: Breaking the Record. Vol. 2. 88p. Dark Horse. Mar. 2015. Tr. ISBN 9781616555986.
Gr 7 Up—Emily and her band, the Strangers, have won a battle of the bands, and the prize is a record contract. Everyone is ready to sign—except Emily herself, who keeps going over the fine print. Throw in some evil record executives and a sudden influx of stray cats, and the plot thickens. While this is one of a series, the story stands quite well on its own.
REHR, Henrik. Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin who Ignited World War I. 232p. Lerner. Apr. 2015. Tr. ISBN 9781467772792.
Gr 8 Up—Every high school student knows that Gavrilo Princip started World War I by assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But who were these figures, really, and how did that single act ignite a worldwide conflict? Rehr tells the life stories of both men in parallel and puts them into the context of their times, alternating between matter-of-fact pen-and-ink drawings for the straightforward parts of the narrative and dark pages with deep black backgrounds for the more emotional scenes.
RICH, Jamie S. Ares & Aphrodite. illus. by Megan Levens. 168p. Oni Pr. April 2015. pap. ISBN 9781620102084.
Gr 9 Up—Hollywood divorce lawyer Will Ares makes a bet with cynical wedding planner Gigi Averelle that the match between his client, an aging actor, and hers, a former child star, will fall through. This is a classic movie-style romantic comedy with a lot of charm and a few clever twists.
STEVENSON, Noelle. Nimona. HarperTeen. May 2015. Tr. 272p. ISBN 9780062278234.
Gr 7 Up—Nimona is a young girl with shape-shifting powers who appoints herself as the sidekick to the moderately villainous Lord Ballister Blackheart. She’s younger and more reckless than he is, but when he discovers an evil plot at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics, the odd couple have to work together to unravel it. Noelle Stevenson is one of the creators of the all-ages adventure series Lumberjanes, and Nimona has a similar mix of irreverence, adventure, and pleasantly cartoony art, this time in a sci-fi/fantasy setting. The story is available as a webcomic, but the book includes some print-only extras.
TOUNO, Mamare and Kazuhiro Hara. Log Horizon. Vol. 1. Yen Pr. Mar. 2015. pap. ISBN 978031638306-6.
Gr 8 Up—Fantasy becomes reality when 30,000 gamers are trapped inside an online sword-and-sorcery game and cut off from the real world. This manga, which is based on a series of Japanese novels, follows a trio of friends, including an awkward but skilled gamer and a female assassin, as they make their way through this strange new world filled with monsters and other hazards.