MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC NOVEL: The Prisoner of Shiverstone by Linette Moore
ABOUT THE BOOK
In Linette Moore’s debut, middle-grade graphic novel, The Prisoner of Shiverstone, eleven-year-old Helga Sharp is found unconscious in a drifting rowboat near the coast of Utley Island. Utley, as Helga finds out when she awakens in the hospital, is forbidden territory: it’s a prison island to which the Mainland has exiled troublesome mad scientists for generations. Helga is questioned by the island’s guards and though they’re suspicious of her story, they agree to let her stay until they find her family.
The truth is, it’s no accident that Helga landed here. She is a keen inventor, but the Mainland is suspicious of all scientists and inventors. While working on her projects in secret, Helga made radio contact with Erasmus Lope, a mad genius who everyone thought had died in a lab experiment gone spectacularly wrong. But Lope is alive, and Helga is on a mission to rescue him from the prison island.
Now Helga must find a way to break Lope out, right under the noses of the family of famous heroes that run Utley Island. There’s only one big problem—Lope’s trapped inside a giant crystal in the mad scientists’ museum!
Fans of Red’s Planet and Suee and the Shadow are sure to love The Prisoner of Shiverstone, a charismatically illustrated mad science adventure for readers of all ages.
REVIEW
This scifi graphic novel for middle grade readers didn't fully live up to my hopes for it. I did quite enjoy it, but I did find some parts a bit confusing and the characters aren't as appealing as they might have been. As the main character, Helga could have used more backstory. At the beginning of the story, it's apparent that she's at a boarding school sneakily working on building a radio. When she inadvertently contacts a man trapped on a prison island. But you don't find out why she decides to try to rescue him until much later in the book. It's also not clear exactly how Helga gets to the island in the first place. In addition, it seems odd that on an island full of brilliant if strange scientists, no one really catches on to what she's doing until she's caused a great deal of destruction. And the consequences for the mess she makes aren't as severe as one might expect. Maybe it's because its an island of mad scientists that her mischief isn't frowned on as much as it would have been on the Mainland.
Despite the issues mentioned above, I did quite enjoy the ingenuity that Helga and the prisoner of Shiverstone show in their efforts to get him free. I think my favorite character though is the butler robot who likes to read mad science thrillers. His excitement at becoming a part of the plot adds a good deal of humor to a rather intense situation. The prejudice that led to the creation of the island and the isolating of the scientists there is made clear as is the fact that the Mainland doesn't want the scientists around but the people there are more than happy to take advantage of the scientist's inventions. And yet, as Helga discovers, despite the island being a prison, there is some freedom for the scientists to do their work and experimenting without too much interference, which creates an interesting conundrum. The book is full of contrasts that make it a more thoughtful read than I expected when I set out. The contrast between Helga's difficult situation and her sometimes obnoxious behavior or the contrast between who the prisoner in Shiverstone once was and who he has become add depth to what seemed like a simple rescue story.
As far as the graphics go, they do have a big of an old-fashioned feel to them, but it works for the most part. There are lots of strong lines and Helga's emotions are clear as day. When she's mad, boy is she mad.
All in all I found The Prisoner of Shiverstone to be an enjoyable read with some interesting ethical and moral dilemmas.
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