Largely but not entirely left by her doting upper-grade sibs (who had “first days” of their own) to sink or swim, Maggie starts off in lonely isolation but quickly finds two great friends in Mohawk-wearing, multiply pierced, exuberantly logorrheic classmate Lucy and her quieter (but also Mohawk-topped) brother Alistair. (Aug.Nervous, home-schooled by her absent and much-missed mom and saddled with three adored older brothers-and a ghost-Maggie starts high school. Agent: Bernadette Baker-Baughman, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. Sam reads as Black, Norrie cues as South Asian, and Hazel and Victoria present as white. Featuring funny dialogue (“Let the shunning commence!”) and Hicks’s ( Comics Will Break Your Heart) signature art-including sharply rendered horses in motion-this attentively layered, low-stakes graphic novel is told with an insider’s understanding of both stable culture and fandom. When the Edgewood trio discovers that Victoria shares their fondness for vintage sci-fi show Beyond the Galaxy, Victoria’s iciness begins to thaw, and the riders bond while discovering strength in supporting each other. Indifferent to Norrie’s welcome (“I’m here to ride, that’s it”) and subsequent irritation and shunning, Victoria remains focused on training a young gelding while healing from a friendship breakup with a privileged and demanding Waverly rider. Droll, quiet Hazel recognizes Victoria from a schooling show at upscale Waverly Stables, prompting chatty Norrie to conclude that Victoria was sent to infiltrate Edgewood.
As summer ends, best friends Hazel and Norrie, along with laid-back Sam, the only boy rider at Edgewood Stables, are intrigued by the arrival of a skilled new rider, Victoria, to Edgewood. Strong characterizations and polished digital art distinguish Hicks’s pleasurable graphic novel of building friendship through shared devotion.
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