Suee and the Shadow

September 4, 2017
Sullen 12-year-old Suee Lee, new at Outskirtsville Elementary, investigates the strange goings-on at the school in this graphic novel, a revised and reworked collection of three stories that were originally self-published digitally. An ever-expanding group of students dubbed “zeroes” are walking the school’s halls “like a bunch of mindless zombies,” mumbling to themselves and being ignored by teachers. Suee has an unusual gap in her memory after hearing a strange voice at school one day, people’s shadows keep disappearing—and Suee’s own shadow has become sentient. Along with whiz kid Hyunwoo and bully target Haeun, Suee attempts to solve this mystery before any more students lose their shadows. Ly’s haunting story gains depth and texture from Park’s minimalist, thick-lined artwork, which sticks to a limited b&w palette occasionally dashed with bright red and muted yellows and blues. Loss and absence pervade the story, including Suee’s own sense of abandonment from a father who shows little interest in her, but the friendships Suee forms prove formidable against both supernatural threats and the twisty social politics of school. Ages 9–12. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

September 1, 2017
A visually refreshing treat from South Korea, Ly and Park's debut graphic novel features Suee Lee, a 12-year-old girl with sharp intelligence, a world-weary view, and a pointy hairdo. Suee Lee is not pleased that she has been transferred from Bustle Elementary on Bustle Street to Outskirts Elementary in Outskirtsville. She chooses to keep to herself rather than try to befriend either "queen bee," "jerk," "dim bulb," or "loser" but gets tangled up in trouble when a strange voice beckons her into the eerie exhibit room at school. Suee wakes up in the nurse's office, and soon after, her shadow begins to speak, taunting Suee and threatening her classmates. While Suee Lee verbally spars with her own shadow, the creepy vice principal expands his disturbing after-school classes for "zeros." When students begin to act like zombies and lose their shadows, Suee reluctantly befriends the shy and bullied Haeun as well as the confident and handsome Hyunwoo. The unlikely threesome launch the Zero Detective Club to investigate. The graphics are simultaneously menacing and exquisitely clean, superbly honed in a shiny palette of jet, ash, and crimson. It's to the author's credit that readers will be unsure about whom to root for until the very end. The wry writing deftly captures preteen angst, but the story meanders, at times devolving into awkward dialogue, and the embedded moral to the story is tediously corny. With strengths outweighing flaws, this is a dark yet digestible visual delight with an endearing investigative trio. (Graphic horror. 8-12)

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October 15, 2017
Grades 3-6 Clad in a black dress worthy of Wednesday Addams, Suee's already an outsider at her new school. Luckily, she doesn't let the snickering of her new classmates get to her; her too-cool attitude might not win her friends anytime soon, but it certainly keeps the bullies at bay (mostly). But strange things are happening at Suee's school, especially when her shadow starts talking and moving on her own! Suee's eager to keep her shadow under control, lest it get her in trouble, but the shadow has other ideas, which seem connected to a mysterious new after-school program and a horde of shambling, zombie-like students. Park's bold, modish figures, largely in black and white with occasional bright pops of color, add to the eerie atmosphere, particularly Suee's shadow, whose stark white eyes and maniacal grin quickly become sinister. Though pacing is occasionally haphazard, the stylish art is plenty eye-catching, and a subplot focused on Suee's reluctance to make friends adds a subtle undercurrent of emotional depth. Hand to fans of Ben Hatke's Mighty Jack (2016).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
Cynical twelve-year-old Suee and her divorced dad have just moved to Outskirtsville when Suee discovers her shadow can suddenly talk. After a rash of elementary students become vacant-eyed, zombie-like "Zeroes," Suee and two new friends form the Zero Detective Club to investigate. A sharp aesthetic and a dynamic manga-inspired layout outshine a sluggish mystery in the South Korean author-artist pair's debut graphic novel.

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