School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Abadazad is a magical graphic novel that Kate, 14, and her younger brother, Matt, had been reading about in old books. While under Kate's care five years earlier, he was kidnapped, and she is still having trouble dealing with the loss. Through some sort of magic, she is transported to the land of Abadazad, where her brother is, and she meets the characters from the books as she starts her quest to rescue him. Here the first book ends, and not much is resolved or explained. The format is a challenge because pages from the original stories are interspersed with Kate's diary, which then jumps into graphic-novel format that looks anime-ish. The text lacks pagination or chapter breaks and has a tiny font. The language of Kate's diary is colloquial, with asides in parentheses, and the pages of the old books begin and end in the middle of sentences. Dream Thief follows the same format; the pieces don't work any better together, and the plot is not clear. Although Kate has several adventures and meets creepy and creative characters, she does not find her brother, except as a vision in a pearl necklace, held captive in a pod of green goo. While graphic-novel fans might pick these books up, there is too much narrative text between the cartoons to hold their interest, and all but the most stalwart readers might decide that the format is just too confusing.-Sharon R. Pearce, Longfellow Elementary School, Oak Park, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An appealing blend of Spirited Away and The Wizard of Oz , this comics adaptation expertly blends art and text in the launch of the Abadazad series. The story unfolds through Kate's "enchanted journal." The belligerent 14-year-old is angry at her father for running out ("Dad ditched us when Matt was two and I was five"), her mother for withdrawing emotionally, and at herself for failing, five years before, to prevent her younger brother Matty's abduction. When she learns that Matty is being held prisoner in Abadazad, the magical realm that the siblings used to love reading about, she realizes she can still rescue him. Thanks to a cogent design and Ploog's deft brushwork, the paper-over-board volume distinguishes the yellowed pages of Kate's emotionally messy but honest diary from the magical tales of Abadazad. DeMatte is seamlessly weaves far-out threads into Kate's real life, such as the heroine's neighbor, Mrs. Vaughn, who turns out to be Little Martha from Abadazad ("You see, time, as we know it, doesn't exist in Abadazad," the woman explains). When events get too marvelous for words, Ploog's artwork explodes into the pages. The artist's fans may be disappointed that the comic strips seem constricted by the layout, but his full-page images demonstrate how easily he toggles between Kate's drab domicile and the splendor of Abadazad. And Kate's edginess keeps the story from feeling too saccharine. Readers may well share in the heroine's reluctant surrender to hopeful wonder. Ages 9-up. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Expanded from a well-received comic into a hybrid text-and-graphic-novel format, this first of a planned four episodes introduces sullen-but-sensitive teen diarist Kate Jameson. Still grieving five years after the mysterious disappearance of beloved little brother Matt, she finds herself transported from Brooklyn to the land of Abadazad, the distinctly Oz-like setting of a supposedly fictional series of tales with a distinctly Oz-like publishing history. In frequent illustrations that occasionally expand to take over the plot entirely for a few pages, Kate presents an appealingly homely look, with a bulbous nose and ratty hair offset by big, widely set eyes. That, plus the mix of adolescent hostility and shy vulnerability in her narrative, will win younger readers over, as will Abadazad, with its benevolent three-eyed, blue-skinned Queen, its dessert-bearing trees, odd wildlife and carnivorous Sour Flowers. Kate finds a firm friend and guide in Little Martha, brown-skinned heroine of the original metafictional tales and, receiving confirmation that Matt is alive, kidnapped by Abadazad's sinister Lanky Man, has her future course laid out. A promising start for readers between Jennifer and Matt Holms's Babymouse (2005) and Jeff Smith's Bone (2005). (Fantasy. 8-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
\rtf1\ansi\deff0Gr. 4\endash 7. A victim of CrossGen Comic's bankruptcy, the Abadazad series gets a new format here\emdash diary entries interspersed with spot and full-page pictures and short episodes of sequential art. It's been five years since 14-year-old Kate's beloved brother, Matt, disappeared, and still raw from the tragedy, Kate and her mother are constantly at each other's throats. Then a neighbor tells Kate that Matt is in Abadazad, the mystical land featured in a series of books that Matt loved. Kate follows Matt into Abadazad, and as the first volume in the series ends, she is poised for adventure. The black-and-white art is an appealing mix of realism and exaggeration, but it is occasionally awkwardly inserted into the text, and the sequences do little to enliven the fantasy. It's Kate who makes the story shine: hyperdefensive and plagued by guilt, she is powerfully and believably depicted. A thoughtful read with surprising psychological nuance, this is not typical fantasy fare. --Jesse Karp Copyright 2006 Booklist
