By Greg Hunter, Editorial Director, Graphic Universe
Easter candy—it’s the snack on everyone’s mind this month, with selections wide-ranging enough that every variety has a perfect literary counterpart. With Lerner’s Graphic Universe imprint in the process of rolling out this spring’s graphic novel releases, we’ve also found the type of Easter candy with which each new graphic novel pairs best.
The Hunt Is On (Seekers of the Aweto, Book 1) by Nie Jun
Speckled candy eggs
With their distinctive speckled shells, these candy Easter eggs are visual feasts as well as tasty treats, and so too are the pages of The Hunt Is On. Nie Jun’s breathtaking watercolor cartooning make this book one of the spring’s most beautiful releases. In the first volume of the Seekers of the Aweto series, he leads readers through a fantastical version of medieval China in pursuit of a rare treasure.
The Spy Who Raised Me by Ted Anderson and Gianna Meola
A filled chocolate egg
Whether the inside of your egg includes peanut butter, crème, or another decadent filling, a bite through its chocolate exterior teaches you that appearances can be deceiving. In The Spy Who Raised Me, Josie Black learns a similar lesson about her superficially ideal home life, in an espionage satire that tucks one twist into another. (We won’t reveal how a massive soda conglomerate figures in . . .)
Brontë by Manuela Santoni
A chocolate carrot
For sophisticated tastes, consider pairing a chocolate carrot—best with a chocolate-hazelnut center—and Santoni’s sweeping, elegant depiction of the lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. This work of graphic biography explores the stormy climate of family strife, double standards, and economic vulnerability out of which the sisters rose to become literary legends.
The Winter of Walking Stone (A House Divided, Book 3) by Haiko Hörnig and Marius Pawlitza
A chocolate bunny
Shaped like a rabbit but wrought of cocoa, milk, and sugar, this item is as vexing as it is delicious, a tempting yet unnatural concoction. In this way, it’s not unlike the stone soldiers of The Winter of Walking Stone. These mysterious automatons begin marching toward the inherited magical home of Henrietta Achilles, threatening a new calamity just as Henrietta’s allies leave for the winter.
The Wolf in Underpants at Full Speed (The Wolf in Underpants, Book 3) by Wilfrid Lupano, Mayana Itoïz, and Paul Cauuet
Jelly beans
For the sheer variety of flavors a candy eater encounters in one sitting, nothing surpasses a bag of jelly beans. And for a delightful variety of colorful characters, we recommend the flying racers the wolf encounters in this new caper. Meet the Bubbly Buzzard, the Redbreast Baron, and the Outlandish Gander as they take off in a competition of the Fast and the Featheriest!
Super Potato Gets Buff (Super Potato, Book 6) by Artur Laperla
A marshmallow bunny
The resilience of the marshmallow bunny: give it a squeeze, and it swells back as if larger than ever. In Super Potato Gets Buff, our tiny hero does the same: when faced with the scourge of rampaging giant flies, he ends up benefiting from the same science that created them, gifted a larger set of muscles than ever before. All this and an appearance from Gladys, the world’s smartest dolphin!
Verdad a la vista (Cici: Un cuento de hada, Libro 2) by Cori Doerrfeld and Tyler Page
Egg-shaped bubble gum
When Cici uses her fairy powers to play a trick on popular-girl Kendra, the mischief quickly blows out of proportion, as if it were an unwieldly bubble of gum. But as with egg-shaped bubble gum, the experience is ultimately a sweet one, as Cici and Kendra move from distrust to friendship. Now in Spanish, this graphic novel finds Cici learning to see the best in people.