The Rise of Aurora West (Battling Boy Series) by J.T. Petty and Paul Pope –OPTIONAL

Pope, Paul and Petty, J.T. The Rise of Aurora West (Battling Boy Series) 160 pgs. First Second, 2014. $9.99 

Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG Violence: PG13

As a prequel to Battling Boy, this graphic novel is the growing up story of the monster fighter Aurora West. It spans from her childhood to her teen years, as she learns from her father, famed Haggard West, to fight the monsters that have overrun their city. When she decides she wants to know more about her mother’s death, which happened years before, it leads Aurora to take some dangerous chances.

I was looking forward to learning more about Aurora, who was a very minor character in Battling Boy, and this book didn’t disappoint. It was fun to see the relationship between her and her dad. The artwork has the same gritty style as the first book but is presented in a much smaller format and in black and white. This new format, so different from the large colorful pages of the first book, lead to some confusion in the plot and the action is harder to follow. I think the monsters are too scary for elementary so I have suggested it for Middle and high school.

MS, HS -OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.