A Review of Sloane Leong’s A Map of the Sun (First Second, 2020)
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ljiang28
Written by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Lina Jiang
As part of my lightning reviews, I also want to spotlight Sloane Leong’s A Map of the Sun (First Second, 2020)! This graphic novel is one I might consider teaching in the future! It’s that good! Let’s let the official MacMillan marketing description get us off the ground first: “A Map to the Sun is a gripping YA graphic novel about five principle players in a struggling girls' basketball team. One summer day, Ren meets Luna at a beachside basketball court and a friendship is born. But when Luna moves to back to Oahu, Ren’s messages to her friend go unanswered. Years go by. Then Luna returns, hoping to rekindle their friendship. Ren is hesitant. She's dealing with a lot, including family troubles, dropping grades, and the newly formed women's basketball team at their high school. With Ren’s new friends and Luna all on the basketball team, the lines between their lives on and off the court begin to blur. During their first season, this diverse and endearing group of teens are challenged in ways that make them reevaluate just who and how they trust. Sloane Leong’s evocative storytelling about the lives of these young women is an ode to the dynamic nature of friendship.” It’s interesting that they describe this particular work as a “young adult” graphic novel. To be sure, the characters are all in high school, but beyond that, Leong’s work is quite gritty. These high school students are facing resource instability and must find a way to excel despite these circumstances. Basketball offers Ren, Luna, and a number of other strong female characters, a venue in which they can explore their limits and sites of possibility. I especially found the friendship between Ren and Luna to be particularly affecting. These two characters absolutely need each other in order to navigate the thorny waters of high school and of growing up. Ren, in particular, has a particularly challenging home life, so Luna’s particularly upbeat and quirky disposition is precisely what Ren seeks. Leong’s work is also striking because it focuses on a variety of characters of various ethnic backgrounds. The diverse cast never feels forced, and Leong finds organic ways to explore various concerns that arise over identity and growing up. If there is a minor quibble I have with this graphic narrative, it is that I sometimes found the hues to contrast too sharply against the images, but otherwise, this work is certainly recommended reading.
Buy the Book Here
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ljiang28
Written by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Lina Jiang
As part of my lightning reviews, I also want to spotlight Sloane Leong’s A Map of the Sun (First Second, 2020)! This graphic novel is one I might consider teaching in the future! It’s that good! Let’s let the official MacMillan marketing description get us off the ground first: “A Map to the Sun is a gripping YA graphic novel about five principle players in a struggling girls' basketball team. One summer day, Ren meets Luna at a beachside basketball court and a friendship is born. But when Luna moves to back to Oahu, Ren’s messages to her friend go unanswered. Years go by. Then Luna returns, hoping to rekindle their friendship. Ren is hesitant. She's dealing with a lot, including family troubles, dropping grades, and the newly formed women's basketball team at their high school. With Ren’s new friends and Luna all on the basketball team, the lines between their lives on and off the court begin to blur. During their first season, this diverse and endearing group of teens are challenged in ways that make them reevaluate just who and how they trust. Sloane Leong’s evocative storytelling about the lives of these young women is an ode to the dynamic nature of friendship.” It’s interesting that they describe this particular work as a “young adult” graphic novel. To be sure, the characters are all in high school, but beyond that, Leong’s work is quite gritty. These high school students are facing resource instability and must find a way to excel despite these circumstances. Basketball offers Ren, Luna, and a number of other strong female characters, a venue in which they can explore their limits and sites of possibility. I especially found the friendship between Ren and Luna to be particularly affecting. These two characters absolutely need each other in order to navigate the thorny waters of high school and of growing up. Ren, in particular, has a particularly challenging home life, so Luna’s particularly upbeat and quirky disposition is precisely what Ren seeks. Leong’s work is also striking because it focuses on a variety of characters of various ethnic backgrounds. The diverse cast never feels forced, and Leong finds organic ways to explore various concerns that arise over identity and growing up. If there is a minor quibble I have with this graphic narrative, it is that I sometimes found the hues to contrast too sharply against the images, but otherwise, this work is certainly recommended reading.
Buy the Book Here
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