In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Recess Warriors: Hero Is a Four-Letter Word by Marcus Emerson
  • April Spisak
Emerson, Marcus Recess Warriors: Hero Is a Four-Letter Word; written and illus. by Marcus Emerson. Roaring Brook, 2017 144p (Recess Warriors)
Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-62672-708-3 $12.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-250-16252-6 $9.22         R Gr. 4-6

Now this is how recess should be—cooperative, technology-free fun. In this first volume of a graphic novel series, all the action takes place on a school playground, and at first it's not quite clear what's happening. There's a girl on a mission, references to cooties, and suddenly zombies are swarming the yard. Never fear, it's all play, and the next thing up is pirates. The diverse group of kids are all active participants, with each of their creative inputs finding room in the freewheeling imaginative play. The panels are crowded with text, sound effects, and illustrative details, which seems about right when trying to capture grade-school kids bouncing ideas off one other in unstructured play. Colors are a visual nudge for readers who aren't quite sure what is real or not, as blue skies and brown playground equipment transform into vivid, shocking fantasy hues with each new adventure. Readers will eagerly await the next volume, a sample of which suggests Emerson is sticking to this successful format of a series of recess vignettes. Bonus sketches and a short piece on the writing and illustrative process offer behind the scenes looks at how this went from idea to finished product.

...

pdf

Share