Justin Barisich

We’ve all heard news reports about refugees fleeing their homes for any number of reasons in search of a better life. And for most of us, once the news report ends, so do our thoughts about their lives. But Illegal does something special—it forces readers to stop and consider the humanity of the people who are so often portrayed as mere statistics.

Twelve-year-old Ebo is determined to make it out of his poor village in Ghana. His older sister and brother have already fled, so Ebo decides to slip away and risk everything to cross the Sahara Desert and the unforgiving sea in hopes of making it to Europe. More of Ebo’s history is revealed through flashbacks as the narrative jumps between his current situation—floating helplessly on a slowly deflating life raft—and the pivotal moments of his life in Ghana.

With Illegal, writers Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) and Andrew Donkin—along with award-winning illustrator Giovanni Rigano—have created a gripping account of a 21st-century refugee’s experience. This vivid, powerful graphic novel, drawn from original interviews with undocumented immigrants, asks the reader to take in someone else’s plight, and then leaves them with a new sense of empathy, understanding and compassion.

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

With flying fish that fling themselves onto the doorsteps of its rainbow-colored homes, Allora is a charming seaside town unlike any other. But this quiet and quirky town also has a heartbreaking past—one that brings together the characters of The Boy, the Bird, and the Coffin Maker.

Thirty years ago, Alberto the carpenter lost his wife and three children to a plague that ravaged Allora. Alberto built five coffins—one for each family member he’d lost and one for himself. But Alberto survived. Now an old man, he notices that some food has suddenly gone missing from his home. He discovers that the thieves are Tito and Fia, a small, hungry boy and an unusual bird. After many weeks, Alberto befriends the pair and convinces them to live with him rather than in an abandoned shed on the outskirts of town. Tito reminds Alberto of his own children and his long-forgotten happiness, and he begins to teach Tito carpentry, how to read and how to grieve his dead mother—whom Alberto built a coffin for just weeks ago. When Tito reveals that he and his mother originally came to Allora to escape his abusive father, Alberto is determined to protect him.

With magical realism reminiscent of Gabriel García Márquez, author Matilda Woods has crafted a tender tale about the power of kindness in light of tragedy, accompanied by magical illustrations from Anuska Allepuz. Woods’ simple yet beautiful prose is open, honest and bears the soul of each of her characters.

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Like its townsfolk, Lenburh is a quiet, meager place where very little ever happens. But when two of its most unlikely heroes stumble upon an enchanted, talking blade in Have Sword, Will Travel, they embark upon an adventure that will alter the courses of their lives forever—exposing them to unseen lands, unparalleled knights and unimaginable beasts, any of which could enhance or end them.

Odo, the miller’s hefty son, and Eleanor, the healer’s quick-witted daughter, have been best friends since childhood. One ordinary day, they find an ancient sword at the bottom of their nearly dried-up river. To their surprise, the sword is a magical one, and it wakes up, boldly introduces itself as Biter and knights Odo on the spot—even though Eleanor is clearly better suited for the title. Biter demands that the new Sir Odo and squire Eleanor earn their designations by taking on the task of a knight, so they suggest solving the only obvious problem they can think of: the drying-up river. Unknowingly, this leads Odo and Eleanor on a grand quest wherein they’ll need to work together with Biter to fight against and outsmart a collection of unexpected enemies who have long since lost their sense of chivalry and honor.

New York Times bestselling authors Garth Nix and Sean Williams have crafted a fun adventure tale with underlying complexity, in which our simple protagonists soon learn that their world is far more mischievous, malevolent and magical than they’d ever imagined. While simultaneously playing into many tropes of the high fantasy genre, Nix and Williams also comment on them in their own ways, making their readers reconsider everything they’d ever learned about mythical beasts and enchanted weapons.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.