The War at Ellsmere

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It's a super quick read, so unless it turns into a series, I'm not sure it'd be worth anyone's time. Jun is the first scholarship student to attend Ellsmere, much to the disdain of the school bully, Emily. Luckily, she makes friends with her roommate Cassie, who is sweet-natured and a little kooky; she often mentions things like alien abductions, and she's the one who tells Jun all the crazy stories about the school's mysterious history and the creature said to roam the nearby woods punishing evil.

The friendship between Juniper and her roommate, Cassie was really sweet and I love how they stood up for one another. Books in the demographic are devoured and forgotten with an ease that must wound all but the most circumspect authors. But living at Ellsmere is far from ideal: She is labeled a “special project,” Ellsmere’s queen bee is out to destroy her, and it’s rumored that a mythical beast roams the forest next to the school. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Ellsmere census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more. These are books aimed at a people who, by the laws that govern universal process, have only the barest experience of the world we all inhabit.

Emily continues to harass and intimidate Juniper and when Cassie attempts to help her friend, Emily corners her in the forest and threatens her. Hicks’ characters are built of expressions and she sells these effortlessly, taking a character through a range of visible, discernible emotions across the space of a single page.

Authors aiming to interest nascent adults need drum up narrative conflicts with which these readers will be acquainted—and let's be honest, the well of experienced conflicts will run a lot deeper for grown-ups than it will for nearly any fourteen-year-old. While this may be quite enjoyable for younger audiences, I think it didn't effectively left important points it wanted to convey. We have a presumably Asian (probably east Asian, but I could be wrong) main character who is of course smart and has a scholarship and OF COURSE has a dead father, who left behind a little keep-sake (omg no way? From New York Times bestselling author Faith Erin Hicks comes a feel-good graphic novel about friendship and fitting in.

This graphic novel is a light read and I love how the art style fits perfectly with the whole theme of the story. Where she also succeeds, probably more so than with the main character, is with the outcast character. Born in the wilds of British Columbia, the young Faith frolicked among the Sasquatch native to the province before moving to Ontario at age five.

The War at Ellsmere focuses on Juniper, a girl who has got into a boarding school on a full scholarship. The War at Ellsmere's pretty much what it has to be, so we read and are aware of where it must go and what it must do to get there. No, not because it was an agonizing read, but rather because it was so short and shiz that I had to take a good five seconds after I read it to really comprehend what I just read.It's pretty predictable and has the cool girl/poor girl troupe I wouldn't have expected Hicks to play into. Which you can’t miss, it’s literally the full title: One Year at Ellsmere: A YA Graphic Novel about Friendship and Standing Up for What You Believe In. I never went to an all-girls school but I can only imagine the sea of bitchiness that such establishments harbour (a mixed school is bad enough for bullying) but to single Juniper out because of her economic background is disgusting. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you.