If you like: graphic novels, medium spooky, Spell on Wheels, Ghostopolis, Witch Boy, Hocus Pocus.
Anya’s Ghost is a graphic novel that can be read and digested quickly, but contains intricate layers that pack a lot of storytelling into a small book.
One of the things I love is that Anya is seemingly the everyman of teenage angst, but her experience has a different level to it. She moved to the US from Russia when she was 5, and resents her mother for pushing a culture on her that made her feel ostracized while growing up. Anya worries about her body like every teen, but has to fend off her mother’s traditional, greasy Russian breakfasts. Anya has a crush on the most popular boy in school, but her confidence was crushed years ago from kids teasing her about her Russian accent. She actively distances herself from being the kind of sweet Russian girl she thinks her mother wants her to be.
Enter ghost: Emily, who died after falling into a well in the early 1900s. Without giving too much away, there’s a quiet aura of unease around Emily from the moment she and Anya meet, and it grows in exciting, twisty ways as the story continues. And that’s what makes the story so enjoyably goosebump-raising: even when things are good, like when Emily helps Anya ace her tests or successfully talk to her crush, there’s always something looming on the horizon of the next page.
The plot moves fast. It’s a testament to Brosgol’s storytelling that she’s able to say a lot in a small amount of space, and Anya’s transformation doesn’t feel contrived. I enjoy that while there are clichés in Anya’s Ghost, Anya doesn’t let other people dictate her insecurities as she learns her lessons. One of the best examples of that comes when Anya finds out the boy she likes is a jerk, and it doesn’t take Anya any rationalizing or pining to come to terms with that. She just drops him.
As far as the art style, Brosgol uses a monochrome palette with a hint of purple. It makes the story feel timeless, and adds the perfect amount of underlying spookiness. The settings are not that detailed, but what really steals the focus of every scene are the character’s expressions—managing in a single panel to be funny, heart-achey, or downright creepy.
Anya’s Ghost is the perfect first step into any spooky fall reading. It’s fun and light, but has substantial storytelling to get you into that pre-Halloween mood.
"Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol; Square Fish; 2011.
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