Never judge a book by its cover, we all know that adage. Because I judged this cover I was hesitant to read Mary, The Adventures of Mary Shelley’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter. It looks too girly, has a ‘Twilight’ vibe that sends the wrong kind of shivers up my spine and the great to the fifth power subtitle seems all too gimmicky. Hello crow, you taste rather good right now. In reality, Mary, The Adventures of Mary Shelley’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter is a delicious surprise of a graphic novel that acknowledges its tenuous lineage into a real page-turner that will satisfy middle school readers of any ilk.
Certainly, the Goth kids will be attracted to Mary because of the ‘Mary Shelley’ connection. Graphic novel fans, when they give the book a chance, will love it’s realistically drawn characters and attention to detail that Yishan Li has provided. Comic book fans will also appreciate the slightly retro feel of the individual panels that are complemented by a very subtle manga vibe.
Mary starts out by giving readers an overview of the famous family. We quickly learn that our titular character is five generations deep from the legendary author. She lives with three of the other generations and is often compared to them. They’ve been wildly successful in their respective careers. However, Mary is a teenager who hasn’t figured out her path yet, and the protégés in this family haven’t skipped a generation yet, so get moving there girl.
That is a feeling many teens can relate to. Either the fact that they haven’t figured out what they’re good at or their family is pressuring them to follow some line of study that just doesn’t interest them. You don’t have to be the fictional great5 granddaughter to one of the forerunners of modern science-fiction to know what Mary is going through.
Early in the graphic novel, Mary finds her calling. She’s in the biology lab with her partner when something fantastic and unexpected happens. She thinks it’s a fluke until a pale, handsome boy shows up at her house with a reanimated frog and his severed foot in his hand. Mary’s calling has been made known to her, and while helping monsters or bringing things back to life is not what she wanted, it’s what life has dealt her.
From here Mary tries to avoid helping monsters, but they’re coming at her when she least expects it. They’re coming at her in school and some more at home, all the while her family is seemingly unaware of the new skills happening around them.
What makes Mary The Adventures of Mary Shelley’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter a fun graphic novel that also delivers action and monster spooks for middle school audiences and up is how real it is. It has Goth sensibilities, with sharp drawings that could easily feel at home in an action-oriented graphic novel, but throws in elements that tweak it just left-of-center. It’s those manga soft touches, the pacing of the story and it’s obvious desire to be a fun graphic novel-which is succeeds at. This is a fun, seasonally spooky graphic novel that can be enjoyed at any time of the year for middle school readers aged 13 and up.
Mary, The Adventures of Mary Shelley’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter is by Brea Grant with illustrations by Yishan Li and on Six Foot Press.
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