Love, Misha

Gr 9 Up–In Aden’s debut graphic novel, Misha’s mom Audrey has practically waltzed back into Misha’s life after abandoning them for years. Now, Audrey wants to take Misha on an obligatory road trip. With one wrong turn, Misha and Audrey find themselves in the Realm of Spirits, meeting otherworldly characters and experiencing peculiar events. They soon find that they can only make it back to the Material Realm if they work through their differences and disputes, learn to forgive and accept, and come to a true understanding of each other. Misha has felt lost and left behind by Audrey and holds on to that resentment, while Audrey struggles with accepting that Misha is non-binary and the choices that they’ve made thus far in their life. Aden expertly weaves together dual story lines of past and present alongside engaging illustrations, and readers will yearn to see what Misha and Audrey’s future holds. Both Misha and Audrey are realistic characters dealing with genuine emotions of still caring for someone who has done and said hurtful things. Though the culmination of the story wraps up rather succinctly, the emotions run deep to the core. Fans of Mai K. Nguyen’s Anzu and the Realm of Darkness and Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Deep Dark will find this title to be a strong addition to their collection.