Gray Horses - Hope Larson

Gray Horses
Hope Larson
Oni Press
ISBN 9781932664362

This story blew me away completely. I never knew so much could be said without words. It is the first graphic novel I have read that had more panes without words than with them. Also the words themselves are done in an interesting way. This book is the story of Noemie, a French exchange student. She is in Onion City and on her own for the first time. She soon becomes friends with Anna the daughter of the local baker. She is being photographed by a mysterious boy and she is struggling with nightmares from her past. One of the really unique things about this book is that almost all of Noemie's dialogue and thoughts are in both French and English. The first night I read the book I read it through three times, once reading both, once just reading the French and once just the English. This story conveys so much and most of it without the use of words. It is wonderfully done, and I know I will read it again and again and get more from it each time.

Hope Larson seems to write a different graphic novel in each town she lives in. She is currently working on a graphic novel of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. To be honest, I cannot wait.

Books by Hope Larson:
Salamander Dream (2005)
Gray Horses (2006)
Chiggers (2008)
Mercury (2010)

Geektastic (Illustrator 2009)