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Reviewed by: Becki Truelson, High School Librarian Title: Squire Author: Nadia Shammas Illustrator: Sara Alfageeh Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Year: 2022 Good for Grades: 9-12 Genre/Type of Book: Fiction Graphic Novel
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Some Adult Language Recommended for a school library: Maybe, depending on student interest Reason(s) for choosing the book: Still trying to love graphic novels...... If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
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Review:
Aiza is a young girl who wants to become a knight. She knows it will be an uphill battle as she is small physically and also belongs to the Ornu people, who face discrimination. Aiza knows that if she pursues knighthood, she can earn full citizenship and be able to move out of the area where she and her family have been stuck for many years. Throughout Aiza'a training she meets several people who help her, and she begins to realize that the Empire she is working for is not as it seems.
This story was Meh. I never felt invested in Aiza's plight. The backstory of the Ornu and their struggle with the Empire was not clear to me. I kept waiting for a moment when things would become clear and I would start rooting for someone, but it never came. The knight training dragged on and when the conflicts were revealed it was chaotic and hard to follow.
The art added to my confusion. Many of the characters looked similar and the speech bubbles were made in a unique, but not helpful, way. They had squiggly lines to whoever was speaking. I found myself having to add an extra step when reading to following the lines to decipher whose words I was reading.
I finished this book because I knew I would be writing a review. Otherwise, this would have been a "did not finish".
Number of party hats:
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