Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson - ESSENTIAL

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Leila Del Duca, 208 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL DC Comics, 2020. $17.  

Content: Language: PG-13 (8 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Diana is trying to measure up to the other Amazons on her home island, and when a ship is seen in distress off their shore the other Amazons don’t want to help the people suffering.  Diana can’t take standing by, so she goes against the rules of her home and starts to help the humans get back on their raft.  Diana can’t find her way back home and quickly finds herself in a refugee camp with those she saved.  Her time at the camp is short when two humanitarians take her to the United States because of her language proficiency in multiple languages. While in New York, Diana sees the effects of poverty in the neighborhood she is staying and what happens when refugees can’t get the help they need.  

I just finished reading Leigh Bardugo’s graphic novel about Wonder Woman and enjoyed that as well, but I can’t help comparing the two.  I loved the story and message of Anderson’s Tempest Tossed and I think it will resonate with what is in the news today. I couldn’t put it down and hope that Anderson has more for this series.  That said, Bardugo’s Wonder Woman had more vibrant and appealing illustrations.  Tempest Tossed had muted colors and wasn’t as visually appealing.  In the end, the illustrations in Tempest Tossed were good enough because the story was great.  The content includes child trafficking and alluding to sex trafficking.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson