Mercury [Paperback]

 

 

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Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a graphic novels panelist.

The artwork is tremendously eye-catching in this, my first foray into Larson's work. Black & white can be extremely effective in the hands of a pro and Hope Larson is such an artist. I was caught up in the artwork throughout the story and I think that the b/w captures a mood both for the historical fiction aspect as well as the magical elements that colour would never have conveyed.

This story takes place in small town Nova Scotia, Canada and switches back and forth from a modern family and their 1859 ancestors who have lived on the same property until two months ago when Tara's house burnt down. Now she is living nearby with relatives while her mother has gone to work in the oilfields of Alberta to make some money for them.

Switch to 1859 and we have Josey and her family who meet Asa, a young man who has an uncanny talent for finding gold and who courts Josey as they fall in love. The family's life changes with the finding of gold and descends into tragedy. While back in the present Tara is given an old family heirloom necklace, which she soon finds to have a strange power, from this point on her family's life takes a turn toward a bright future. Both girl's are each other's counterpoint in time and they experience romance and love for the first time.

The book started off a bit awkward for me. It took some getting into the story, as the switches back and forth in time are short and quick. It also took me a few switches to realize that the past pages were bordered with black, the only indicator that a switch had taken place. Once one gets used to this, the story comes alive and, for me, got better and better as it went along. I didn't have any connections to the past characters except for not liking any of them. The mother was strict, unfeeling and Josey was very naive; I liked the men even less. However, in the present I really enjoyed Tara's character. Her behaviour, way of speaking and attitude were all consistent with an intelligent, yet self conscious teenage girl. I really enjoyed how the two stories were connected to each other and how the plots were in contrast of each other. One a dark descent into tragedy, the other dependant on the circumstances of the past, brings hope and a possible bright future for the down & out characters.

One thing I found amusing, as a Canadian, were all the footnotes for the Canadianisms as if it were a foreign language. LOL! I can understand non-Canadians not knowing what a loonie is even though it is funny reading the definition. But do people really not know where oil is located in Canada? Any Canadian could tell you where it is in the US. And dinner? does that need defining? What about a "soaker"? I never realized that was Canadian. Do Americans not get soakers when they step in puddles? And one that had me was kims for kilometres. I've never heard that word used in my life; it must be regional. We always say the whole kilometres, though when we were kids we used to say klicks. But I think that was an '80s thing because my kids have never said it. Very entertaining, were the footnotes, indeed!

There was a short conversation about homeschooling which I found to be in bad taste and cliched but otherwise a very interesting story. I do wish the ending were more finite, as it is left up to the reader to decide what the final outcome will be, and I prefer my books to tell me how it ends. But I think this book is going to appeal to teens and critics alike and I won't be surprised to see it turn up on other award lists or "Best of" lists at the end of the year.

This is my fourth graphic novel this year. I am surprised that at 40 years of age I am being drawn to graphic novels. I started with authors like Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, because I enjoyed their other works. Hope helped illustrate Geektastic, one of my favorite books this year, so I wanted to check out some of her other works.

This is a story told in two parts, the first in 1859 and the second in 2009. It is a story of a family, generations apart, but in part reliving the same events, tragedy and loss. Josey Fraser lives in 1959 in French Hill, Nova Scotia. She has fallen in love with a young man named Asa Curry. Asa has found gold on his father's farm. In the same farm house 150 years later, Tara Fraser is dealing with the destruction of the farmhouse and her life being turned upside down; she is given a family heirloom and it seems to help her find what she is wishing to find.

The two stories are told alternately on pages of black with white or white with black. Josey's story is on black pages illustrated in white and Tara's are white pages illustrated in black. The pages have a wide variety of frame layouts and are wonderfully illustrated in just black and white, without using grayscale. Hope Larson is an Eisner Award winner, the highest honor for comic artists. She has developed a large and loyal fan base. The way she combines her art and words, forming a single powerful narrative, is inspiring to her readers. This is a story told across time, but bound by blood. It is reminiscent of Madeleine L'Engle's An Acceptable Time. Larson's current project is a graphic novel adaptation of L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Reading this book will spark the imagination and bring out dreams, and will cause you to consider the history presented within this story and also your own personal story - your family history. I met L'Engle a number of years ago and she said her characters are real to her. Every now and again she would get a flash of where they are now and what they are up to. I wonder what Tara is doing a year later, what she will be doing in 5 or 10 years? Maybe someday Larson will tell us that tale.

(First Published in Imprint 2010-06-04.)

Are you looking for a graphic novel to try for the first time? Or you are already a fan of the genre? In either case, look no further than Hope Larson's MERCURY.

MERCURY is a story told in two voices: Josephine and Tara. Separated by over 100 years, the two girls are connected far more than Tara could imagine.

The story starts in the present. Tara is currently living with her aunt and cousin because the old farmhouse she had lived in with her mother has burned down. The fire has forced her mom to look elsewhere for work. So in the meantime, Tara is back at the school she attended until her mom started homeschooling her two years previously.

In the past, Josephine's family is approached by a drifter, Asa. The traveling gentleman has discovered there is gold located on their farm. For a part of the profits, he is willing to help Josephine's father mine the gold.

Tragedy happens both in the past and the present, but a mysterious necklace seems to hold the key to what happened before and could help Tara eliminate problems in the now.

You may wonder where the title comes from. If you pick up MERCURY and give it a go, the mystery will be solved. Ms. Larson slowly builds the story until the ending starts to come together into a whirlwind of a crescendo. The plot is woven brilliantly. It took quite a few pages until I was able to predict the outcome. Which in my opinion is always a plus!

The illustrations are creative and the distinction between the past and the present is clearly depicted. Even though the story is told in graphic form, there were moments clearly expressed showing budding romance, creepy environs, anger, mistrust, adventure, and any other myriad of feelings.

MERCURY is not to be missed. It has put Hope Larson on my list of authors to watch.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

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