Monday, December 30, 2019

Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis - ESSENTIAL

Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis, 393 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Walker Books (Candlewick), 2019. $25. 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG. 


BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Ever since Margaret was a baby, she has lived on the island with the nuns. They are part of an Elysian order and they care for sailors and their families, and pray for safety of the ships at sea. But when Queen Eleanor, whose half sister has taken over the throne, is brought to the island as a prisoner, Margaret soon finds out that there are a lot of secrets the nuns never told her, and some are about Margaret's past. Secrets that could cost everyone their lives. 

Ah! A nice long graphic novel with plenty of plot, great characters, adventure, danger, and romance. I loved the illuminated feel, the setting and the humor. The illustrations are great, clean, expressive and drive the story along with the text. I loved the religious life of the nuns - so simply explained by Margaret. I was particularly intrigued by the embroidery lesson. I hope my middle school students appreciate this as much as I did - the middle ages are sometimes a hard sell.

Lisa Librarian

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