Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Foiled by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro


I love seeing high-quality graphic novels that will appeal to girls in Grade 4 or 5 and up. It seems like there is way more stuff with boys as central characters. In Foiled, Jane Yolen's fantasy set in New York City is well matched with Mike Cavallaro's art. The green-gray tones give way to full colour when the magical action begins; a wonderful effect.

Aliera Carstairs loves reading and role-playing games. She is very comfortable with a fencing foil in her hand and has competed at fencing tournaments since she was a young girl. Now Aliera is in high school and she doesn't fit with any of the cliques there. She notices a very handsome new boy, Avery Castle, but feels sure that he would never look twice at her. He does - when they are paired together in Biology lab. (Why is that device used so often in teen novels?) Anyway, when Aliera meets Avery in Grand Central Station, she learns that his charms hide some pretty big secrets.

Readalikes: Rapunzel's Revenge (Shannon Hale and others) and Re-Gifters (Mike Carey and others).

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