August Moon - Softcover

Thung, Diana

Softcover

ISBN 10: 160309069X ISBN 13: 9781603090698

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions, 2012

Synopsis

• The townspeople of Calico believe in the legend of the Soul Fire — orbs of light dancing through the night sky, believed to be the souls of dead ancestors watching over the town. But when eleven-year-old Fiona Gan comes to town with her dad, she learns the amazing truth: these "fireballs" are actually the light from lanterns carried by mysterious rabbit-like creatures as they leap across rooftops! Leaping with them is the peculiar street boy Jaden, who rarely speaks and claims to come from the moon. But the games may be coming to an end, because Fi and her dad are not the only newcomers to Calico... when a creepy corporation starts bulldozing the nearby forests, she finds herself uncovering a whole world of secrets, and drawn into Jaden's battle for the soul of a community.
• Diana Thung's debut Top Shelf graphic novel is a true adventure, rooted in the diverse local traditions of Asian festival culture, with a modern sensibility and a hint of magic.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Visitors have arrived in the idyllic, isolated town of Calico. Corporate businessmen are attempting to bulldoze the forests, and Fi is visiting with her scientist father, who is there to investigate a mysterious rabbitlike creature native to the town. Fi, withdrawn since her mother's death, and distanced from her clinical, logical father, begins to open up when she makes friends with Jaden, a mysterious boy who claims to be from the Moon. The surreal tone and fantasy creatures recall Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, but simple black-and-white drawings in an expressive cartoon style give the comic more of a quirky, indie feel. The whimsical creatures and spirited young characters will appeal to children, but the dynamic action scenes (which include some gun violence) and themes of community activism, environmental devastation, and the limits of rationality make it more suitable for older teens and adults. A worthy addition.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"A dream of a book. August Moon hums with menace and wonder, like the coolest childhood you never had. Diana Thung's work is beautiful in all the right ways, for all the right reasons." — Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This Is How You Lose Her



"August Moon did the thing I always hope a book will do: It took me someplace I hadn't been before." — Hope Larson, author of Mercury and A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

About this edition

• Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 160309069X
• ISBN 13: 9781603090698
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320