In Jennifer Dugan’s (drawings by Kit Seaton) inconsistent graphic novel for teenagers, Emsy is a blissful California adolescent uprooted from all that she enjoys when she is forced by her parents to move to Upstate New York after the murder of members of the family coven. Emsy is a witch and in New York, she learns about her past, her powers, and her possibilities in ways that are unfortunately cliche for this genre. The novel seems sincere in its approach and is most successful when focusing on the web of social relationships, upheaval, and the sincere passion young people can have for one another so quickly. The drawings are clean and effectively convey a sense of inner vibrancy and intense fire moments. Unfortunately, the writing and plotting are too often tired and predictable. Adults are drearily predictable and two-dimensional. On the other hand, and not for the better, the adolescents are both wildly sophisticated and tediously whiny. “I mean witches? Evil Tomes? Dateless for homecoming? How is this my life?” The writing told excessively through dialogue and images, is weirdly out of their register and does not capture how teens talk. Dugan struggles to develop characters. Her tone is breezy and the writing stays fixated on teen relationships – who likes who – in the midst of murder, witchcraft, and what should be a deep loss. The plot jumps between a Who-Done-It, a tale of the supernatural, and interwoven relationships, without effectively satisfying an element. The book has a lot of potential appeal, unfortunately it treats the characters in such superficial ways the work fails to ignite the powers that the genre is so eager to tap into. Therefore, this is an additional purchase for most libraries.
