Mercury by Hope Larson
A fascinating combination of history and fantasy, this graphic novel tells two parallel stories, both set in Nova Scotia. Different generations of the same family, one modern and one from 1859, are played against one another. Tara is the modern girl who is dealing with her family home burning to the ground. Her mother has had to leave and find work elsewhere while Tara stays with a friend. Tara has been homeschooled the last two years, and is returning to the school district that she used to attend. She soon finds romance and magic. Josey’s story takes place 150 years earlier. Josey is the sheltered daughter of a farmer who is besotted when she finds herself the focus of a stranger’s attention. The man has found gold on her father’s farm and soon the two of them enter into business together mining the gold. Tara finds her own modern world connected to that of Josey in unexpected ways.
Larson has created an intriguing and winning book. While the two stories are vaguely parallel in romance, they diverge quickly into very different stories. The book is beautifully designed. Readers will immediately understand that the historical story is bordered in black while the modern is bordered in white. Larson’s art is welcoming and great fun to read. She has created a story with the best of graphic novels, romance and fantasy woven seamlessly together. The two heroines are very different people, but both romantics and both tied together in intriguing ways. There were some characters that I wish had been more fully developed such as Tara’s mother and the family she is living with. I think it would have made it easier to enter her world.
Highly recommended, this graphic novel is one that will easily cross borders between teens who enjoy graphic novels and those who read romance or historical fiction. This is a great entry book into the world of graphic novels for new readers. Appropriate for ages 13-15.
Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.
Also reviewed by:
Waking Brain Cells 