The BookBrowse Review

Published July 31, 2024

ISSN: 1930-0018

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Contents

In This Edition of
The BookBrowse Review

Highlighting indicates debut books

Editor's Introduction
Reviews
Hardcovers Paperbacks
First Impressions
Latest Author Interviews
Recommended for Book Clubs
Book Discussions

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Publishing Soon

Literary Fiction


Historical Fiction


Short Stories


Essays


Poetry & Novels in Verse


Thrillers


Romance


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Graphic Novels


Biography/Memoir


History, Current Affairs and Religion


Science, Health and the Environment


True Crime


Travel & Adventure


Other


Young Adults

Mysteries


Thrillers


Romance


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Graphic Novels


History, Current Affairs and Religion


Extras
  • Blog:
    The New York Times Best 100 Books of the 21st Century: How Does BookBrowse's Coverage Compare?
  • Wordplay:
    It's R C A D
  • Book Giveaway:
    Smothermoss by Alisa Alering
Book Jacket

Ash's Cabin
by Jen Wang
13 Aug 2024
320 pages
Publisher: First Second
Genre: Graphic Novels
Peperback Original
Critics:

From New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator Jen Wang comes a singularly affecting story about self-discovery, self-reliance, and the choice to live when it feels like you have no place in the world.

Ash has always felt alone.

Adults ignore the climate crisis. Other kids Ash's age are more interested in pop stars and popularity contests than in fighting for change. Even Ash's family seems to be sleepwalking through life.

The only person who ever seemed to get Ash was their Grandpa Edwin. Before he died, he used to talk about building a secret cabin, deep in the California wilderness. Did he ever build it? What if it's still there, waiting for him to come back…or for Ash to find it? To Ash, that maybe-mythical cabin is starting to feel like the perfect place for a fresh start and an escape from the miserable feeling of alienation that haunts their daily life.

But making the wilds your home isn't easy. And as much as Ash wants to be alone…can they really be happy alone? Can they survive alone?

"Wang masterfully adapts this storyline for contemporary audiences, seamlessly weaving questions of identity, gender, race (Ash has Chinese and Irish ancestry), and climate change into this fundamental tale of survival. Searing and radiant." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Wang (Stargazing) delivers a stunning, contemplative wilderness adventure via muted earth-tone watercolors that tackles head-on the present-day experience of living in what often feels like a time of apocalyptic change." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Wang's emotive, empathic illustrations elevate an already impactful narrative into a stupendous visual masterpiece, with and without panels, swathed in daytime California golds and chillier nighttime blues. Perfection―literary and artistic―awaits here." —Booklist (starred review)

"This book is a page-turner and readers will both worry and cheer for Ash every step of the way. Highly recommended for all middle school and high school libraries." —School Library Journal (starred review)

"Ash's Cabin is a beautiful book. Jen Wang does amazing work in deftly contrasting Ash's interior journey in their relationship with a hostile external world. It's a gorgeous meditation on fear, loneliness, and building a place to feel at home in your own heart." ―Trung Le Nguyen, creator of The Magic Fish

"Heart-wrenching and powerful, Ash's Cabin sucked me in and I couldn't stop until I got to the end. Ash's story couldn't be more relevant today. I just loved it." ―Tillie Walden, Eisner Award–winning creator of Spinning

"A fierce and tender story about the lengths you will go to connect in a way that matters, during a time in your life when those connections feel so hard. Timely, empathetic, and masterfully drawn, exactly what Jen Wang has always excelled at." ―Kate Beaton, #1 New York Times–bestselling creator of Hark! A Vagrant and Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.

Jen Wang is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of several graphic novels for young readers including Ash's Cabin, Stargazing, The Prince and The Dressmaker, In Real Life (co-written with Cory Doctorow), and Koko Be Good. Jen's honors include two Eisner Awards, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Children's Literature Award, and the Fauve d'Angoulême Youth Award. She is based in Los Angeles and is a co-founder and organizer for Comic Arts LA.

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