Explorer: The Mystery Boxes.

Kibuishi, Kazu (Editor)

Mar 2012. 128 p. Abrams/Amulet, hardcover, $19.95. (9781419700101). Abrams/Amulet, paperback, $10.95. (9781419700095). 741.5.

Award-winning comics creator and editor of the celebrated Flight anthologies, Kibuishi offers yet another great anthology geared toward middle-school readers. This collection brings together seven minicomics written and drawn by comics luminaries such as Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, and Kibuishi himself; Flight contributors Jason Caffoe, Rad Sechrist, Stuart Livingston, and Johane Matte; and comics newcomer Emily Carroll. Each fantastic and fantastical story centers around the theme of boxes and the mysteries that lie within or around them. Always clever and never boring, these diverse stories run thegamut from creepy to sarcastic to witty to cute to Zen to wacky to thoughtful. While the pieces feature different artists and styles, each one is complete and so well composed that the transitions from one to another do not seem jarring or out of place. A great introductory title for young or struggling middleschool readers starting to explore the world of graphic novels.