Reviews

Sky Island by Janet K Lee, Amy Chu

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libraryam's review against another edition

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Cute.

dslarson1980's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

saroz162's review against another edition

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4.0

This second volume is a distinct improvement on its predecessor, Sea Sirens: it has more pages to tell a story, the plot is more straightforward with fewer moving parts, and it isn't in any way hamstrung even by the appearance of an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's original 1912 novel. Instead, this new story keeps the original's title, a couple of characters' names and the most basic germ of their conflict - and that's it. That's quite wise: Baum's Sky Island is one of his best books, and Chu and Lee already have a full platter of characters and relationships to explore from Sea Sirens.

The most fulfilling aspect of the book comes from deepening those relationships, in fact. If Sea Sirens offered sort of glancing impressions of Trot, her mother, her grandfather, and the sea siren world, Sky Island takes the opportunity to add layers. One of the sirens, Merla, is jealous of her sister Clia's new friendship with Trot - which becomes the catalyst for the action. We learn that Grandpa has friendships of his own, making him a much more vivid character than the slight figure in the previous book, and again, inspiring some of the plot. In Sea Sirens, the moral message seemed to be that you can't judge a book by its cover; here, it's taken a step further to suggest that most people, at heart, default to being kind. Building on relationships in this way is something Baum would never, and could never have done in his two Trot books, so it's a modern, and frankly smart choice for these new graphic novels to function differently.

Some of the criticism I have seen for this sequel speaks to its "Scooby-Doo" solution, which is - I think - legitimate. Chu's writing and pacing are still not quite up to par with Lee's art, which remains colorful if sometimes less grand (there are far fewer scenes under the sea in this one, so that fits). However, my memory of being 9 years old is that I really enjoyed a "Scooby-Doo"-style plot, even when I saw the resolution coming from a million miles away, because they were fun! This book is full of fun. This time, King Anko has a shape-changing submersible (openly homaging Kevin O'Neill's designs for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and much of the action revolves around a refurbished and slightly off-putting 1950s amusement park. There are even sea serpents in little hats! It's very visual and I think kids will enjoy getting absorbed in this world, even if at their age, I personally preferred something with a few more words in it.