Snapdragon, it’s great and isn’t what you think it is

Why is the title character wearing antlers? That was the first thing that I thought when I saw the cover to Snapdragon. The summary about a young girl out to see if the witch that lives in town is eating pets is correct. Snap’s dog has gone missing and while she might be scared to confront the witch, she also needs to find her dog. By the 10^th page Snap has solved that problem and is onto dispelling urban myths, discovering a bit her family, making friends and having a grand adventure.

Snapdragon is not the graphic novel that I thought it was. It’s from Kat Leyh and is on :01 First Second Books. Leyh is a co-writer and cover artist for Lumberjanes. If you’ve dug into our all age comic books post then you know that Lumberjanes is one of the best comic books out there for middle elementary school and up. Leyh brings that sentimentality to Snapdragon, but ages it up just a little bit.

Those readers 10 and up will really enjoy the graphic novel. There’s nothing too inappropriate in the book. However there are some instances of bullying, magic, witchcraft and articulation that might be too much for younger readers. Technically it’s called skeletal articulation and it’s the art or hobby of rearranging bones into the form of their formerly flesh covered selves.

On the surface that’s a little gruesome, but that is not the main backbone to the story. Instead the story shifts to Jack, the mysterious person who everyone thinks is a witch. It’s his relationship with Snap that is absolutely captivating. Their relationship mirrors, to an extent, one that Snap’s grandmother had when she was a young girl.

What’s most surprising about Snapdragon is that it is never quite what you think it is. Just when you think the graphic novel’s story is headed in one direction there’s a flashback scene that resets its orientation. This is not a bad thing. The way that Leyh weaves the story and art together allow the story to boil to a very satisfying conclusion.

We ended up reading Snapdragon in one sitting, when we had buckets of other things to do. Like a potato chip or just petting the cat for a minute, I kept extending the amount of time allocated to the book. I didn’t expect that. I’ll just see how this ends or a couple other excuses wafted through my mind until I finished the book. It’s a very fun graphic novel that middle school students and up will become quickly enthralled with. With any luck it just might make them curious to discover (if they don’t already know) Leyh’s comic book art and story in Lumberjanes.

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