The City on the Other Side, an action based fairy story for 8 and up

Fairies are not the sort of thing that make up action stories-and other falsehoods. That’s one way to look at The City on the Other Side, a graphic novel from Mairghread Scott with art by Robin Robinson. The fairies in The City on the Other Side are made up by two groups who rule two different regions in the forest. Seelie are the fairies that make up the majority of the planet. However, those Unseelie fairies rule the crumbling logs, mushrooms and other forest spots that are typically more unattractive. The result of these two tribes and their story is a surprisingly fun, action packed original graphic novel that boys or girls, 7 years and older will enjoy.

The reason I say surprising is that the term ‘fairies’ is typically the stuff that will drive boys away from a subject. This is a fairy story with an action bent; it’s 100% unicorn-free and has characters that will relate to boys or girls.

The book takes place around 1915 in San Francisco. That’s important to point out because elements of the story take place in the real world, as well as, the fairy realm. Isabel is our main hero in the book. She’s about 11 years old and splits time between her mother and father. They are married but he’s an artist who buries himself in his work, while she’s an aristocrat who is seemingly more interested social events and status than being with her.

One afternoon while Isabel is in the forest she stumbles across Pista, a Seelie fairy who has been wounded by an Unseelie. Isabel doesn’t know this, but Pista was sent on a secret mission to deliver a weapon that can destroy Coscar, the leader of the Unleeies. But that was in the Fairy Realm, this is happening in the human world and how is it that Isabel is able to see a Seelie anyway?

Young readers will appreciate the speed at which The City On the Other Side moves. It’s not that the story is being glossed over, it’s that the story moves fast, all the while connecting dots along the story plot line. For example that incident in the forest happens in the first 15% of the book. After that we meet a human in the Fairy world named Benji who seems honest, but is also flawed and might hang out with some criminal elements.

The City on the Other Side is a graphic novel that readers eight and up will enjoy. It does a great job of managing the action, fairies and monsters against the situations and consequences that will happen when either side accomplishes their goal. Again, it bears repeating, but this is an action based graphic novel with fairies. These aren’t your father’s fairies. This is full of warrior fairies, but all age appropriate and a solid story to keep young readers turning the pages.