Anya's+Ghost

//Anya's Ghost// by Vera Brosgol

I liked this one, as opposed to most people who reviewed this. I love the artwork, and thought Anya was funny but very relatable. The ghost story started out as very cute, then got super creepy, and I loved the artwork of the ghost at the climax of the story. I thought it was an interesting viewpoint of the immigrant experience, from someone who considers herself acclimated enough to reject her culture to fit in, but still remains and feels like an outsider. The denoument was a little too quick, but other than that I thought it was well done. - Liz, Merrimack Public Library

A graphic novel. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, but unfortunately didn't write a review. It wasn't very memorable. -Jan 2013, Julie - Nashua PL

If you have read Persepolis this is probably right up your alley. Anya is a typical teen angst-filled character, except she's an immigrant. Through years of ESL she has lost her accent and is completely fluent in English. The other Russian is not so fortunate and gets harassed everyday. This was a little eerie at times and a fantastic read. Emily was a bizarre character, which made her like-able but also really intense. This was a nice little mystery and not at all what I was expecting from this book. I agree it might not be the most memorable, but I thought it was pretty good. Maybe it would be more memorable if I could've related to Anya better. **Brittany Moore - Hall Memorial Library**

 This was an OK graphic novel about a Anya, a Russian immigrant who finds a ghost, Emily. Anya tries to fit into her private school and become a typical American teen, and Emily seems to help her, but after a while the true Emily comes out she isn't a particularly nice ghost. This was just OK, not fabulous. A student at school, upon seeing it on my desk, told me that she read it this summer and that it was an OK read, but she didn't seem thrilled either. ~ Sharon Flesher - Nashua High South

Not at all what I expected. This GN started slowly, w/teen angst & the immigrant experience, but once Anya fell into the hole & found herself stuck down there w/ a skeleton and ghost, I was hooked. I don't approve of the attitude about the OK-ness of popular guys screwing around, both from Emily, the ghost, who I expected would be a bit more proper, and the girlfriend being screwed around on, but I'm glad that Anya was more sensible. The topic might be appealing to both boys and girls, and I think the fact that it's a GN might help with boy appeal, but the descent into how-to-get-the-guy mode would be off-putting to boys. Appropriate for middle school +. -Kirsten Rundquist Corbett, Lane Memorial Library, Hampton

Very popular here, and also used by our graphic novel class. ~ Beth Strauss, Laconia High School