Odessa

Eight years ago, Virginia "Ginny" Crane found her life upended: her mother abandoned the family, and an earthquake, "the Big One," tore the western U.S. asunder. Now, Vietnamese American Ginny lives with her father, Gregory, and her brothers, Wes and Harry, in this nearly postapocalyptic world: everyday technology such as cell phones may be gone, but mail carriers use a scanner to verify the DNA of mail recipients; North vs. South mentalities are replaced by West vs. East; and cannibals created by Jinx Root, a new plant that can heal those near death at the cost of their sanity, harass survivors. When Ginny receives a package for her 18th birthday, she embarks on an emotional odyssey to San Francisco to find her mother, Odessa, accompanied by her stowaway brothers. Their journey becomes rife with obstacles as they navigate competing gangs and their own sibling rivalry. Reconnections with friends, including a girl who has a long-standing crush on Ginny, buoy her along the way. Making his #OwnVoices debut, cartoonist Hill fully realizes the destroyed world in two-toned art, and packed layouts deliver consistently strong, emotive reactions from the cast. Ginny's skillfully laid transformation as she bonds with her brothers is an impactful contrast to the harsh, sometimes unforgiving world in this powerful graphic novel. Ages 13--17. Agent: Alex Slater, Trident Media Group. (Nov.)

A bloody story of resilience and redemption in the middle of a post-apocalyptic gang war. Eight years ago the earthquakes of the Great Disaster hadn't yet reduced the world to rubble and Ginny's mom, Odessa, hadn't left their family. Now 17 and sick of holding her family together, Ginny sees the arrival of a mysterious package from Odessa as a sign that it's time to leave home and find her mom. Ginny means to go solo, but her two squabbling younger brothers tag along. When the trio reaches their maternal uncle in San Francisco, pursued by a pissed-off motorcycle gang, they find a menacing, corrupt city rocked by a gang war. As Ginny searches, she's caught in a web of murder and betrayal. Rendered in a deceptively innocent combination of black and bubble-gum pink, panels are expertly placed to use linework and sequencing to strengthen the emotion and humor of the story. Subtle and exaggerated facial expressions add nuance to the intricate plot that unwinds with each new, surprising piece of the puzzle. Snarky humor, mostly from the more cartoonishly rendered younger brothers, provides a counterpoint to the action-packed graphic violence and gore. This title leaves a pile of bloody bodies and unanswered questions as the siblings continue east looking for answers and safety. Ginny and her brothers are cued as biracial (Vietnamese and White); there is ethnic diversity in the supporting cast. A gritty, raw page-turner. (Graphic dystopian. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.