Beetle & the Hollowbones
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5.0 • 14 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A Stonewall Honor Book
An enchanting, riotous, and playfully illustrated debut graphic novel following a young goblin trying to save her best friend from the haunted mall—perfect for fans of Steven Universe and Adventure Time.
In the eerie town of ‘Allows, some people get to be magical sorceresses, while other people have their spirits trapped in the mall for all ghastly eternity.
Then there’s twelve-year-old goblin-witch Beetle, who’s caught in between. She’d rather skip being homeschooled completely and spend time with her best friend, Blob Glost. But the mall is getting boring, and B.G. is cursed to haunt it, tethered there by some unseen force. And now Beetle’s old best friend, Kat, is back in town for a sorcery apprenticeship with her Aunt Hollowbone. Kat is everything Beetle wants to be: beautiful, cool, great at magic, and kind of famous online. Beetle’s quickly being left in the dust.
But Kat’s mentor has set her own vile scheme in motion. If Blob Ghost doesn’t escape the mall soon, their afterlife might be coming to a very sticky end. Now, Beetle has less than a week to rescue her best ghost, encourage Kat to stand up for herself, and confront the magic she’s been avoiding for far too long. And hopefully ride a broom without crashing.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though Beetle's formidable grandmother has long taught her goblin magic at home all bones, potions, and ancient family practices the green-eared girl yearns for and idolizes sorcery, which society deems the more powerful craft. It's also the power that Beetle's childhood best friend skeletal, undead Kat Hollowbone has cultivated at prestigious schools. When Kat returns to take up an apprenticeship with her emotionally abusive aunt Marla, much has changed: neither girl writes fan fiction or role-plays anymore, and Beetle's closest friend is now Blob Ghost, a nonbinary spirit haunting and bound to a local mall. As Marla seeks to demolish the mall to reclaim the Hollowbones' ancestral estate, Beetle and Kat reconnect and work together to free Blob Ghost. Solid character work by debut creator Layne slowly builds themes of outgrown childhood friendship, cultural difference, consent, and queer romance that highlight the lush world she's created. A saturated palette that changes and brightens amid strong shows of power, and resonant interpersonal elements including Beetle's bond with her grandmother work in harmonious tandem to deliver a stalwart story of magic, witches, and the mall. Ages 8 12.
Customer Reviews
Excellent book!
The plot was interesting and well written. The characters were all unique and charming. The world the book is set in was so fascinating, and I found myself wanting to learn more about it throughout the whole book. The dialogue had me chuckling a lot, too!
Best of all was the absolutely stunning art! The character design is excellently done and each character’s personality comes through very clearly in their design. The backgrounds are absolutely stunning and I can get lost for hours looking at just one page. The colors in each background coordinate so well and every panel is a beautiful, mesmerizing piece of art!
Overall, great book with absolutely stunning art.