Global

February 20, 2023
Alternating survival narratives depict two youths in different locales overcoming perilous situations caused by climate change in this heart-pumping graphic novel from Colfer, Donkin, and Rigano, the team behind Illegal. Twelve-year-old Sami subsists by fishing with his grandfather in the Bay of Bengal. Brutal waves and mudslides routinely threaten his community’s ramshackle homes; to conjure better fortune, he plans to dive for his family’s lucky knife, which Sami believes sunk into the bay following a monsoon that submerged his home and killed both his parents. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Inuit-cued Yuki’s arctic circle town in Northern Canada is beset by hybrid grizzly-polar bears known as grolars, which have been pillaging human food stores due to declining resources in their natural environment. Angry that humans destroyed the grolars’ habitat, Yuki sets off into the icy landscape with a camera, a bear blind constructed out of an umbrella, her family’s carved seal harpoon, and her dog, Lockjaw, intending to snap a photo to garner sympathy for the bears. Realistically rendered, suspense-filled illustrations by Rigano, presented via straightforward paneling, portray the children’s harrowing experiences with sharp clarity. Colfer and Donkin’s tense narrative clearly outlines contemporary climate change–related realities amid relentless, riveting action. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 10–14.

April 1, 2023

Gr 3-8-Sami is a 12-year-old boy with light brown skin and brown hair who lives in a fishing village on the Bay of Bengal. Yuki is a 14-year-old girl, cued as Inuit, living in a small village inside the Arctic circle. Though they live on opposite ends of the globe, both kids' lives have been directly and negatively impacted by climate change, and both refuse to sit idly by. They each set out on a dangerous journey, braving the elements and risking their lives to enact change. The story adeptly switches perspective back and forth between Sami and Yuki, while subtly showing connections between their very different lives. Beautiful full-color illustrations immerse readers in their precarious and dynamic world, while the fast-paced text keeps the tension high. Though Sami and Yuki's story is fiction, Colfer reminds readers in an end note that all the impacts of climate change that the characters experience are real and currently happening across the globe. A "What is Global Warming?" chapter at the end provides a brief overview of climate change and how it will directly impact children around the world. VERDICT With this newest work, Colfer has created a gripping graphic novel that is a hopeful call to action for all readers. Highly recommended for purchase.-Laken Hottle

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2023
The creators of the acclaimed graphic novel Illegal (2017) take on climate change. Twelve-year-old Sami lives with his grandfather in a fishing village on the Bay of Bengal. Every day, survival becomes more difficult as the sea rises, cyclones buffet the coast with increasing ferocity, and the two bring in fewer and fewer fish. Thousands of miles away, in Northern Canada, in the Arctic Circle, Yuki, a 14-year-old girl cued as Inuit is determined to save the emergent and struggling grolar bears (a polar bear-grizzly hybrid), which brings her face to face with nature at its most primal. Their stories mirror each other, pitting individuals and communities against themselves, each other, and nature itself as their worlds change faster and more drastically than they can adapt to. The decision to depict two mostly disparate, highly personal narratives from vastly different communities works surprisingly well to heighten relatability for young readers who might otherwise feel worlds away from the events of the story. The quotidian consequences of climate change are laid bare, impossible to ignore despite the creative team's adroit avoidance of proselytizing. The text is pointed and poignant, beautifully complemented by dynamic illustrations that bring the scenes to dramatic life. Backmatter does an excellent job summarizing global warming and its negative effects, which does cast a shadow over the somewhat-forced optimism of the story's ending, as it seems only a matter of time before the children's hard-won luck runs out again. Timely and boldly told. (map with Sami's and Yuki's locations, authors' and illustrator's note, sketchbook) (Graphic fiction. 10-14)

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