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aoosterwyk's review
4.0
A classic adventure story, set in 1945 New York City. It is full of intrigue and suspense as two youngsters try to foil a Nazi spy ring.
saidtheraina's review
3.0
Raina Telgemeier told me to read it.
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I really enjoyed this. It's very much in the style of Tintin, and features a young woman who likes to draw herself as a superhero sidekick. There are daddy issues, there's an aunt who parties too much, there's class warfare.
The anti-spy propaganda was pretty intense, so much so that it made me think about the later anti-communist crusades. Which made me a bit uncomfortable. And made me hope that someone's using this in a classroom and bringing up those issues.
But a really engaging, old fashioned adventure story all told.
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I really enjoyed this. It's very much in the style of Tintin, and features a young woman who likes to draw herself as a superhero sidekick. There are daddy issues, there's an aunt who parties too much, there's class warfare.
Spoiler
I may be wrong about this, but I don't remember any nonJewish German characters who weren't spies.But a really engaging, old fashioned adventure story all told.
annakim's review
4.0
Fun, fast-paced story about how a girl uses her imagination in order to salvage her lonely summer.
pkadams's review
4.0
Lovers of Tin Tin are obsessed with this new graphic novel. I know because I have one in my house. This book has been read/reread daily since we bought it last Friday. I just now got a chance to read it. Evelyn is a young German-American spending the summer with her aunt in NYC. Lonely, imaginative, and creative, she creates a comic (yes a comic within a comic) of two super heroes, while making friends with a boy in the apartment building. The two end up having an adventure involving Nazi spies that is captivating and engaging to young readers.
thecommonswings's review
5.0
A lovely surprise this: Kim and Klavan just add enough threat and drama and menace to the plot to make the stakes genuinely high (the Jewish plot is particularly nicely done as are the panicky tendrils in Evelyn’s fantasy sequences, which I read as a nicely understated link to her mother’s early death) but also still very suitable for young readers. And Dizin’s art is wonderful, the best Herge clear line tribute since Garen Ewing’s Julius Chancer books: the same panic sweat beads that Herge uses, the same mysterious dense foliage and mysterious country houses with suspicious butlers and terrible spies. It also manages to remember that the Tintin books can be extraordinarily dark at times and utilises that in the plot so it has enough tension for young and old writers. It’s also nicely open ended and genuinely makes me want to read more of these characters’ adventures. Less a straight tribute than a salute to a beloved comic character with a plot and richly drawn cast that even Herge would have enjoyed
pussreboots's review
5.0
City of Spies by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan is a graphic novel set in 1942 in a large city. Evelyn escapes reality by writing her own comic book in the style of Superman. Before she knows it she and her new friend Tony are in the middle of a spy plot that might involve Nazis.
The book opens with one of Evelyn's comics. For me it was an awkward start. The obvious homage to the golden era Superman felt somewhat forced especially out of context. Fortunately though the story of Evelyn moving into the city to temporarily live with her aunt and her adventures with Tony makes up for the awkward start.
Later instances of Evelyn's hero comic make sense. They are placed in the context of her story and we can see where she draws her inspiration.
Although I found the first couple pages a rough start, the rest of the book more than made up for it.
The book opens with one of Evelyn's comics. For me it was an awkward start. The obvious homage to the golden era Superman felt somewhat forced especially out of context. Fortunately though the story of Evelyn moving into the city to temporarily live with her aunt and her adventures with Tony makes up for the awkward start.
Later instances of Evelyn's hero comic make sense. They are placed in the context of her story and we can see where she draws her inspiration.
Although I found the first couple pages a rough start, the rest of the book more than made up for it.
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