Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen - OPTIONAL

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen, 224 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. RH Graphic (Random House), 2025. $18.

Language: PG13 (21 swears, 1 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Angelica (17yo) could do it all, classes and extracurriculars and friends and helping with her mom’s food truck, until the day she couldn’t. What helped was messaging Per the Bear, the mascot for the local theater. Trying once again to show up, Angelica accepts an internship at the theater, hoping to lean into the good thing in her life—and maybe meet the person behind the bear too.

Obviously, Angelica is the main character, but she is not the only point of view readers get. As we peek into the lives of Angelica, her parents, her new and and old friends, and even the owner of the theater, we find that everyone is dealing with grief in their own ways. The timeline in the first chapter was unclear, but it worked itself out after that, and the illustrations complement the story with lines and curves that somehow manage to feel soft and soothing.

Angelica and her family are implied Asian, and there are various skin tones depicted in the illustrations. Gable is described as nonbinary, and Richard and Phil are gay. The mature content rating is for mentions of alcohol and smut as well as for innuendo.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson