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The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, by Shaenon K. Garrity & Christopher Baldwin

This story is a graphic novel twist on the gothic novel that mixes in a bit of science fiction with lots of adventure. It delivers a great deal of farcical fun and zany adventure. Our intrepid gothic novel-loving heroine falls out of our world and into another when she tries to save a handsome stranger in the river. She ends up at Willowweep Manor which appears, on the surface, to be right out of her favorite novels. Much more is going on beneath the surface as she soon discovers. She must help not only their world survive, but her own as well. This story is full of surprising twists, over-the-top humor, exaggerated eyes and hand motions, and lots of action. I enjoyed the bold colors of the artwork. During moments in the story where time/place distortion is happening, an interesting layered, blurring effect is used to help the reader understand that something odd is taking place. The book feels finished at the end, but also leaves itself open to a sequel. This sometimes irritates me as a reader, but because I was intrigued by all the various characters, I’m also excited to see what might happen next for Haley as she pushes through the boundaries of other genres. Because it is a more complex storyline, this is a graphic novel for middle and high school readers looking for more depth from a plot. I’m looking forward to sharing it with my students.