Summary
"Tillie Walden is the future of comics, and On a Sunbeam is her best work yet. It's a 'space' story unlike any you've ever read, with a rich, lived-in universe of complex characters." --Brian K. Vaughan, Saga and Paper Girls
Two timelines. Second chances. One love.
A ragtag crew travels to the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful, broken structures to piece the past together.
Two girls meet in boarding school and fall deeply in love--only to learn the pain of loss.
With interwoven timelines and stunning art, award-winning graphic novelist Tillie Walden creates an inventive world, breathtaking romance, and an epic quest for love.
LA Times Festival of Books 2018 Book Prize Winner, Graphic Novel/Comics
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2018
One of The Washington Post 's "10 Best Graphic Novels of 2018"
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018
A YALSA Top Ten Great Graphic Novel
A 2019 Hugo Award Nominee, Best Graphic Story
A Harvey Award Nominee, Book of the Year
A Harvey Award Nominee, Best Children's or Young Adult Book
Published Reviews
Booklist Review:
"*Starred Review* When Mia joins a crew tasked with restoring abandoned space ruins, it's clear she's running from something. But between the hard work and the spirited characters of her shipmates, there's hardly time to dwell on it. Interspersed flashbacks of strong-willed Mia at her all-girls boarding school hint at her troubles a burgeoning romance with her classmate Grace, sneaking into the gym to (disastrously) try flying a small ship but it's not until she and her crewmates get a job restoring an ancient, strange temple that the pieces start coming together. Walden's (Spinning, 2017) swirling, atmospheric artwork is phenomenal: she plays with darkness and shadows in captivating ways perfectly in keeping with the light-poor space atmosphere, and swathes of luminous, saturated color only emphasize that darkness. There aren't many planets in the inky black, star-speckled backgrounds, but architectural structures float freely, and they're set together at weird, surprising angles, unconstrained by gravity. There's an organic, familiar quality to the spaces, with trees, rock formations, window seats, cathedral ceilings, and messy rooms, but the starry expanses outside every window are a stark reminder of their interstellar location. The sparking interplay between familiar and foreign is utterly mesmerizing, and the story carries that through as well: the sf components are inventive and compellingly strange, but the romance between Mia and Grace, not to mention the warm, teasing affection among Mia's crewmates, grounds the story in a heartening, recognizable place. A remarkable, stunning comic.--Sarah Hunter Copyright 2018 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review:
"In this sprawling, wonderfully original space jaunt by Walden (Spinning), the depicted characters are all female or gender nonbinary, and the diverse protagonists inhabit cluttered and homey quarters aboard a fish-shaped starship. Teenage Mia joins the close-knit crew of the spaceship Aktis, who travel the galaxy restoring old buildings that float untethered in open space. Flashbacks chronicle Mia's freshman year at boarding school-bullies, sports, and all-and her doomed romance with the mysterious Grace. When Mia discovers her crewmates' unexpected connection to Grace, the crew embarks on a dangerous mission to a forbidden planet to find her. The exquisite art foregrounds simply lined characters against intricate architectural constructs, and Walden's distinctive layers of flat color create temporal cohesion and emphasize themes of memory and family. As Walden develops the relationships, and drops tantalizing hints about the vast universe this graphic novel inhabits, it becomes clear that the meandering, atmospheric journey-and the growth it affords each character-is the point. With a gratifying conclusion, this masterful blend of science fiction-inflected school drama, road trip, and adventure is nothing less than marvelous. Ages 12-up. Agent: Seth Fishman, the Gernert Company. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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