On a Sunbeam

Starred review from September 17, 2018
In this sprawling, wonderfully original space jaunt by Walden (Spinning), the depicted characters are all female or gender nonbinary, and the diverse protagonists inhabit cluttered and homey quarters aboard a fish-shaped starship. Teenage Mia joins the close-knit crew of the spaceship Aktis, who travel the galaxy restoring old buildings that float untethered in open space. Flashbacks chronicle Mia’s freshman year at boarding school—bullies, sports, and all—and her doomed romance with the mysterious Grace. When Mia discovers her crewmates’ unexpected connection to Grace, the crew embarks on a dangerous mission to a forbidden planet to find her. The exquisite art foregrounds simply lined characters against intricate architectural constructs, and Walden’s distinctive layers of flat color create temporal cohesion and emphasize themes of memory and family. As Walden develops the relationships, and drops tantalizing hints about the vast universe this graphic novel inhabits, it becomes clear that the meandering, atmospheric journey—and the growth it affords each character—is the point. With a gratifying conclusion, this masterful blend of science fiction–inflected school drama, road trip, and adventure is nothing less than marvelous. Ages 12–up. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company.

Starred review from October 1, 2018

Gr 7 Up-Walden's meditative space epic will easily win the hearts of sci-fi and romance fans. Mia is the latest addition to a team of restorers, who are tasked with repairing abandoned structures across the galaxy. Though each member of the tight-knit crew is harboring a complicated past, it is wistful Mia who proves to be the linchpin of the plot. Walden treats readers to a stunning interpretation of interstellar life; fluid, fish-shaped ships, floating cathedral-like ruins, and giant celestial creatures add to the grandeur of the story, as do the enormously meaningful friendships and romances among the cast of women and nonbinary characters. The narrative is split into two time lines: one set in the present, colored in berry tones with swatches of orange and red, that follows Mia and the restoration crew; and one five years earlier, done in black, white, and shades of gray blue, where Mia, then a freshman at a boarding school, develops a swoon-worthy romance with new classmate Grace. Walden depicts them with warmth, often dedicating an entire wordless page to their embrace. The artwork, from expansive landscapes to cozy glimpses of the shipmates snuggled together watching TV, is a sight to behold. VERDICT Bound to be a sci-fi favorite, especially for teens who also appreciated Nina LaCour's We Are Okay.-Della Farrell, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
In this graphic novel/space adventure, a young woman discovers her place in a vast universe.After graduating from an all-girls boarding school, Mia, a light-skinned, black-haired girl, joins a reconstruction crew traveling through space to restore crumbling buildings with ancient and forgotten histories. She carries with her memories of Grace, the girl she fell in love with and lost during her freshman year of school. As Mia develops close bonds with her teammates, she learns they each have mysterious and complicated pasts of their own. Despite their differences, the strength of their love holds them together on a dangerous journey to the farthest reaches of space. A deep color palette of blues and purples with bursts of warm shades captures the setting. Walden's (Spinning, 2017, etc.) diverse cast of queer characters includes Char, a black woman who co-captains the reconstruction crew with her white wife, Alma; Mia's past love Grace (a black woman); and Elliot, a white nonbinary person who communicates nonverbally. While Mia's journey is central, every character experiences a moment of growth over the course of the narrative. The timeline alternates between Mia's memories depicting the progression of her relationship with Grace and the present. At times both gently romantic and heartbreaking, the story ultimately celebrates love and the importance of chosen family.An affirming love story full of intriguing characters and a suspenseful plot. (Science-fiction graphic novel. 13-adult)

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Starred review from September 15, 2018
Grades 8-12 *Starred Review* When Mia joins a crew tasked with restoring abandoned space ruins, it's clear she's running from something. But between the hard work and the spirited characters of her shipmates, there's hardly time to dwell on it. Interspersed flashbacks of strong-willed Mia at her all-girls boarding school hint at her troubles?a burgeoning romance with her classmate Grace, sneaking into the gym to (disastrously) try flying a small ship?but it's not until she and her crewmates get a job restoring an ancient, strange temple that the pieces start coming together. Walden's (Spinning, 2017) swirling, atmospheric artwork is phenomenal: she plays with darkness and shadows in captivating ways perfectly in keeping with the light-poor space atmosphere, and swathes of luminous, saturated color only emphasize that darkness. There aren't many planets in the inky black, star-speckled backgrounds, but architectural structures float freely, and they're set together at weird, surprising angles, unconstrained by gravity. There's an organic, familiar quality to the spaces, with trees, rock formations, window seats, cathedral ceilings, and messy rooms, but the starry expanses outside every window are a stark reminder of their interstellar location. The sparking interplay between familiar and foreign is utterly mesmerizing, and the story carries that through as well: the sf components are inventive and compellingly strange, but the romance between Mia and Grace, not to mention the warm, teasing affection among Mia's crewmates, grounds the story in a heartening, recognizable place. A remarkable, stunning comic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
This serial webcomic turned epic graphic novel follows two alternating, far-future timelines, each initially distinguished by a different limited palette. In the first, eighteen-year-old Mia seeks her place among the tight-knit crewmates of a spacecraft; five years earlier, at an intergalactic boarding school, Mia falls in love with new arrival Grace. Walden immerses readers in a uniquely imagined, compelling universe with a cast that's matter-of-factly female-centric, orientation-inclusive, and racially diverse.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2018
This serial webcomic turned epic graphic novel tells Mia and Grace's story in two alternating, far-future timelines, each initially distinguished by a different limited palette. In the first timeline, depicted in mostly purple tones, eighteen-year-old Mia tries to find her place among the tight-knit crewmates of a tiny spacecraft as they work to restore an abandoned space structure. In the second, set five years earlier at an intergalactic boarding school and shown in blues, Mia befriends mysterious new arrival Grace; the two girls fall deeply in love and are ultimately, traumatically separated by forces beyond their control. As connections between the narratives emerge, the palettes blend and expand into a full spectrum of sunset hues to portray the young women's emotionally and logistically high-stakes reunion on Grace's dangerous home planet. Walden immerses readers in a uniquely imagined and compelling sci-fi universe with a cast that's refreshingly and matter-of-factly female-centric, orientation-inclusive, and racially diverse. (A subplot about nonbinary crew member Elliot is also welcome.) But the inventive cosmology is almost incidental to the plot and development of the interpersonal relationships, which, as in Walden's graphic memoir Spinning (rev. 11/17), are rooted in the idea of not just finding but actively and consciously creating yourself, love, and your family. At over five hundred pages, this is a hefty but page-turning and profoundly moving read. katie bircher

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)