Suee and the Shadow (Suee and the Shadow #1)

A sharp aesthetic and a dynamic manga-inspired layout outshine a sluggish mystery in the South Korean author-artist pair's debut graphic novel.

Sullen 12-year-old Suee Lee, new at Outskirtsville Elementary, investigates the strange goings-on at the school in this graphic novel, a revised and reworked collection of three stories that were originally self-published digitally. An ever-expanding group of students dubbed "zeroes" are walking the school's halls "like a bunch of mindless zombies," mumbling to themselves and being ignored by teachers. Suee has an unusual gap in her memory after hearing a strange voice at school one day, people's shadows keep disappearing--and Suee's own shadow has become sentient. Along with whiz kid Hyunwoo and bully target Haeun, Suee attempts to solve this mystery before any more students lose their shadows. Ly's haunting story gains depth and texture from Park's minimalist, thick-lined artwork, which sticks to a limited b&w palette occasionally dashed with bright red and muted yellows and blues. Loss and absence pervade the story, including Suee's own sense of abandonment from a father who shows little interest in her, but the friendships Suee forms prove formidable against both supernatural threats and the twisty social politics of school. Ages 9-12. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Sept.)