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by Jen Wang

5 Stars

The Prince and the Dressmaker: Wang, Jen: 9781626723634: Books - Amazon.ca

In her 2018 award-winning graphic novel, The Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang takes us back to Paris at ‘the dawn of a new age’. We meet Frances, an aspiring seamstress hoping to be noticed and work under her idol, Madame Aurelia, and Sebastian, the Crown Prince of Belgium and the heir to the Belgium throne. Sebastian and his family had come to Paris to meet some of Sebastian’s potential suitors for when he ascended to the throne. Frances, on the other hand, had lived in Paris for most of her life and no longer wanted to work as a minimum-wage seamstress. 

In a strange twist of fate, Frances finds herself within the royal castle working for an unknown client, but, she quickly finds out that she is working for the Crown Prince of Belgium, Prince Sebastian. Sebastian asks Frances to keep his secret and she agrees. Frances realizes that working for the Prince would lead her a few steps closer to fulfilling her lifelong dream of working with Madame Aurelia. Sebastian realizes that with a seamstress at hand who knows his secret it would be easier to fulfill his deepest desires. In the daytime, he is Prince Sebastian, and Frances doubles as his best friend and his personal seamstress, but when the sun fades to black and the moon appears, he is known as Lady Crystallia and Frances is her friend. Together, these two friends engaged in scandalous adventures, heated arguments, romantic endeavors, and drawbacks that may change the whole course of both of their lives, forever. 

The Prince and the Dressmaker is a great book for anyone who wants a Cinderellaesque story. It teaches a lesson about not giving up on your dreams and on the people you care about.

Timi O.

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by Mark Waid Illustrator: Fiona Staples, Annie Wu, Veronica Fish

4 Stars

Archie, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid

The Graphic novel, Archie, written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Fiona Staples, Annie Wu, and Veronica Fish, is a very alluring and engaging book. It is about a freckled-faced teenager named Archie who introduces himself right at the beginning as, “I’m not the most interesting guy in town.” This causes actual interest in who Archie really is. The story is about how Archie meets a rich new girl at Riverdale High and how that affects him and everyone around him. He experiences many changes in his friendships and love life. The story’s genre is based on drama, comedy, and romance. As a person who has been reading many Archie Comics over the years, this graphic novel is a very accurate representation of what the comics would be like in modern times. The graphic novel has effective graphics and dialogue. There is no inappropriate language and actions in this graphic novel. 

I would recommend this book for ages 10 and up. This graphic novel has a lot of romance and drama that might be difficult for children under 10 years old to understand the situations and events. The plot of the story is thrilling to read. The story introduces interesting dilemmas where the reader wonders what would happen next. There are also parts of the story that pique the reader’s curiosity. This happens in the part of the novel where Archie says, “We’ve been a couple since kindergarten. Until last week. Until the Lipstick Incident.” This causes the reader to question what had happened. The big downside to this graphic novel is that the way it ends, it might be dissatisfying to a reader. This graphic novel would be great for people that love books or series with cliffhangers at the end. Overall, I would rate this graphic novel 4 stars. It’s a very good story to read, and would be especially interesting for people that have read Archie comics.

Liza P.

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