Anya's Ghost Paperback – March 25, 2014

I first started hearing about this graphic novel a couple of months ago and it immediately caught my attention. How often does Neil Gaiman lend his praise to a work? And then I started seeing the sample pages that First Second released and I was captivated by the illustrations. So needless to say I was really looking forward to reading this book (I kept trying to find someone that would let me read it an ARC because I was so excited about it.) And the book doesn't disappoint at all. It's the perfect story for young and old alike that deals with so many of the same issues that we all face--anxiety about who we are, body image, who are friends are, and growing up just a little bit.Anya is a young teenage girl in high school who is embarrassed by where she and her family came from...Russia. She's trying hard to fit in by losing her accent, wearing the "right" clothes, going on diets, and trying to hang out with the "right" people...in other words not the nerdy Russian boy in her class. But...try as she might she doesn't fit in with the crowd that she really wants to...the popular ones. And then one day, she falls down an abandoned well in the park and meets a skeleton...and the ghost of the young girl from 1918 named Emily. Emily has been forgotten about and can't wander far from her skeleton and was just waiting for someone to come back and visit her. She keeps Anya company as she waits to be rescued, which she soon is, and one of Emily's bones hitches a ride...and Emily's ghost follows. Although there's trepidation at first Emily soon becomes Anya's confidant and helping her get the right answers on exams, making suggestions about what to wear, and help Anya get the attention of her crush. But things soon take a darker turn when it's revealed Emily isn't who she said she was and Anya must protect her family from Emily's darker nature.This is a powerful debut full length graphic novel for Vera (she's done a couple of short stories before) and it's a wonderfully told story. It's a tightly woven tale with mystery, intrigue, and some growing up as well for all of the characters, not just Anya. It moves along at a nice pace and we get a strong sense of who the characters are and what motivates them. It's one of the best stories I've read in a while and unlike some other writers going from short features to full length, Vera doesn't suffer from having gaps in the tale or missing elements. And the illustrations are reminiscent of some old black and white horror films with juuuust the right amount of depth to them without being overly cartoony.It's a fantastic read and I can't say enough good things about it. I highly recommend it to all and I look forward to seeing what Vera does next.

This graphic novel by Vera Brosgol comes across, at least initially, as a typical teen coming-of-age story. Anya Borzakovskaya is the daughter of a Russian immigrant. She’s frustrated with her family, frustrated with school, frustrated with her (kinda sorta) best friend Siobhan, frustrated with her body and her (lack of) love life and everything else around her. And then one day, Anya falls into a hole in the park and finds a skeleton. And the skeleton comes with a ghost attached — a skinny little girl named Emily who’s been stuck in the hole for 90 years.When Anya gets rescued, Emily ends up tagging along. Anya doesn’t much want a ghost in her life, but she is helpful in certain ways. She can help her with answers during tests. She can find out when her crush will be out of class. She gives her tips on being popular. Emily wants to be Anya’s friend forever. And that could be a problem, because Emily is keeping secrets, and she’s a lot more dangerous than she lets on…I wasn't expecting a lot from this. It starts out the way we’ve seen a couple dozen other graphic novels — misunderstood geek girl, unhappy with her life, grows up, becomes more mature, learns to appreciate the friends and family she has and maybe makes some more friends, too.This one? It follows the familiar path for a while, and then, slowly, it turns into fairly straightforward horror. The end goal is still the same — personal and emotional growth for the protagonist — but it’s interesting how much the tension and fright ramps up, and how serious and powerful the threat becomes. There’s no gore or anything like that, but it’s still a nice piece of low-key horror.The characters are great, too. Anya and Emily are the obvious focal points, but Anya’s mother and brother are also very well-created. Everyone else is fun, too — there’s not a dull character in the bunch — snarky Siobhan, geeky Dima, skeezy Sean, beautiful but miserable Elizabeth, even the school principal at the end.Vera Brosgol’s art is moderately cartoony, but cartooning helps make the characters and situations more universal, more appealing, and more emotional. And the art does a fantastic job of conveying the humor of the story, as well as the eerie shenanigans going on behind the scenes.

Ho appena concluso la lettura di questo bellissimo fumetto, mi è piaciuto molto, l trama è particolare ed intrigante. Il libro tratta di temi attuali e vicini agli adolescenti. Non mancano i colpi di scena!. Un lettura che consiglio caldamente, specialmente ad un pubblico giovane!

Algumas experiências na vida nos leva a aumentar nossa consciência... expandir nossa visão sobre o mundo.No começo os quadrinhos parecem bobos: poucas cores, ilustrações sintéticas... não se engane, pois esta é uma escola de arte de cartuns européia! A hora que você menos esperar, estará completamente imerso dentro da história!Se encontra na mesma linha de arte de "O Árabe do Futuro", de Riad Satouff, ou de "Uma Morte Horrível", de Pénélope Bagieu, com toques da forte cosmovisão dos russos. Um pouco como outros povos com constituição eslava (posso dizer isso por conta do meu avô polonês), o sobrenatural faz de certa maneira parte do dia a dia de alguém que aprendeu a viver em locais extremamente frios e não raramente, em condição de isolamento. Tudo isso pode ser experimentado nesse magnífico (e imperdível) quadrinho HQ!

The story is kinda classic. But it has some twists in it and is overall a nice time to pass 1-2 hours with :)I would recommend this book to readers over 14 though.Plus it is a good start for people who are new to graphic novels.

La había leído originalmente en pdf, pero la historia me gustó tanto que decidí adquirirlo en físico. No tengo ninguna queja del tomo, de muy buena calidad y de la historia ni se diga, también muy original. La portada quizá diga otra cosa, pero la historia tiene sus tintes oscuros.La verdad que el precio también lo vale, es importado de USA, por los que les tienen miedo a pedir desde allá, no tuve problemas con el envío y llego sin detalles.Novela gráfica recomendada ampliamente :)

Anya's ghost is about a Russian girl, residing in the States with her mother and brother. She is your average rebellious, loafer and an irresponsible teenage girl who's not doing so well in school. One day, when she feels exceptionally down, she falls down a deep hole and meets a 90 year old ghost, Emily. That's when Anya's life starts to spice up momentarily.I will avoid typing anything more about the book to avoid potential spoilers. This book kept me intrigued and excited throughout the end. Although very short, it is worth the purchase and any teen or adult (such as myself) would enjoy reading this book.