The email came into the inbox. I saw that it was Maverick. I opened it, scrolled through, and there she was. The floating girl in a sea of blue. Was it? Could I hope? YES! It was book two of The October Girl by Matthew Dow Smith.
Oh! Sweet heaven! My ship had come in! I could read the online copy, not having to wait until the end of May 2026 to have a physical copy in my hand. I was going to be one of the lucky ones to have this online reader copy. I was going to taste the joys of Smith’s genius.
And I was rewarded with a graphic novel that in my (not so) humble opinion was better than book one. Okay, maybe there was a smidgen less action than the first, but a great plot point unfolded. We learn what happened to Autumn’s ….. (Okay! Okay! No spoilers). Okay we learn something really important about the past. This important piece of the puzzle explains a lot about Autumn and how her magical side can (or not) grow, how there are more secrets that she even knows and how no matter where you are from, if your family loves you there is nothing they won’t sacrifice to help you.
One of the parts of this story that I think is my favorite is how minimal the illustrations are. Usually I want more from them. I like having the white spaces filled in. I like details. They do not necessarily have to make the story more interesting or move it forward, but I like seeing the personality of things. What does a bedroom look like, a shop in the town, what people are wearing. These images work for the fantasy elements, the dreamy-magical world that overlaps with so-called reality.
Best for at least 13 and up, younger readers can do, but some content isn’t for the more sensitive reader. For the younger readers, the Amelia Shadows series by Smith is a good alternative for paranormal, fantasy, and humor elements.
Smith is the illustrator to several graphic novels and comics with another solo endeavor is the Amelia Shadows series which is fantasy for the 10 to 14 readers.
