From New York Times bestselling author E. Lockhart (Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars) and artist Manuel Preitano (The Oracle Code) comes a new Gotham City superhero in this exciting YA graphic novel.
Sixteen-year-old Willow Zimmerman has something to say. When she's not on the streets protesting City Hall's neglect of her run-down Gotham neighborhood, she's working nights at the local dog shelter. But despite how much she does for the world around her, she's struggling to take care of her sick mother at home. She's got no time for boys (though there's one she really likes), and no means to adopt the amazingly loyal stray Great Dane, Lebowitz, that follows her around.
Without health insurance and with money running out, a desperate Willow reconnects with an estranged family friend E. Nigma-party promoter, and real estate tycoon. Nigma opens the door to an easier life, offering Willow a new job hosting his glamorous private poker nights with Gotham City's elites. Now Willow is able to afford critical medical treatments for her mother and get a taste of the high life she's never had.
Then everything changes: Willow and Lebowitz are attacked by one of Gotham's most horrific villains, the monstrous Killer Croc. When they wake after the fight, they can understand each other. And Willow has powers she never dreamed of.
When Willow discovers that Nigma and his poker buddies are actually some of Gotham's most corrupt criminals, she must make a choice: remain loyal to the man who saved her mother's life, or use her new powers to save her community.
Editorial Reviews
08/30/2021
High school junior Willow Zimmerman, who is Jewish and light-skinned, balances her time between classes, caring for her ailing mother Naomi, and protesting City Hall's refusal to address recent anonymous "greening" attacks that have covered major community centers with vegetation. When Naomi's old friend E. Nigma returns to Down River, Gotham, he reconnects with Willow first, offering her a job running his poker nights for Gotham's elite. As Willow inadvertently allows her relationships with her mother and friends--including love interest Garfield Logan, who is Black--to fall to the wayside, she discovers the true extent of E.'s undertakings. Lockhart (Again, Again), in her graphic novel debut, establishes compelling drama as Willow attempts to justify the criminal activity funding her mother's cancer treatments, but recognizable DC characters and superhero elements crowd the narrative to the extent that Willow's major character moments lack adequate space to shine. Still, Preitano (The Oracle Code) excels at bringing the New York City-esque urban landscape--from the apartment buildings and bridges to Down River's corner deli--to life, with colorist Metzler's muted oranges and poppy teals adding atmosphere to Willow's typical origin story. Ages 14-up. (Sept.)
- Publishers Weekly
12/17/2021
Gr 8 Up--Sixteen-year-old Willow Zimmerman lives in Down River, a borough of Gotham City. She is an activist for school funding and befriends a new classmate, Garfield, who has just moved to town after growing up in Nigeria. She works late shifts at an animal shelter to help support her mother, who is battling cancer. An opportunity arises when her mom's old friend E. Nigma comes to town offering Willow a large salary for helping organize exclusive events for his friends and clients. Willow accepts, and the money is an enormous help, but she begins neglecting Garfield. She also befriends Pammie Isley, a die-hard environmentalist and one of Nigma's cohorts. The first two-thirds or so of this story is a street-level view of Gotham City as led by a spunky, conscientious teenager. There are references to and cameos from the DC universe, but Willow is definitely the star. Willow and her mom are Jewish, and there is information about Gotham's Jewish history and culture, dialogue about mitzvahs and tikkun olam, and settings ranging from a synagogue to stores with names like Moishe's, Rosen Bros. Delicatessen, and Shelsky's Bagels. Willow struggles to balance personal, social, and professional goals, especially when a big payday requires her to compromise her morals. The third act, in which Willow quickly gains and uses some canine powers to foil Nigma and Isley's criminal enterprise, feels out of place and unnecessary. Preitano's sharp, angular art depicts Willow and Gotham as having many layers and sides--superheroics somehow drain the color from both. Willow, her mother, E. Nigma, and Pammie are white; Garfield is Black. VERDICT Willow's street-level perspective of Gotham City makes for a unique, if uneven, adventure in activism and morality.--Thomas Maluck, Richland Lib., SC
- School Library Journal
2021-07-27
A Jewish social activist who loves dogs: Meet DC's newest superhero.
Origin story 101: a difficult backstory (Willow's mother has cancer and they can't afford treatment); the onset of powers (a Killer Croc attack somehow makes Willow able to communicate with the stray dog she's befriended); the moral quandary (Willow's financial savior is her mother's estranged friend E. Nigma, better known to DC fans as the Riddler); and finally, the decision to take on a secret identity (the titular Whistle). The script offers some exciting changes to the formula: Willow Zimmerman is explicitly Jewish, while (new to DC lore) neighborhood Down River has a multiethnic, Lower East Side feel--and teenage Willow is emphatically not a sidekick. The dialogue lacks subtlety but moves the story along, although the overreliance on expository captions highlights the fact that the versatile Lockhart hasn't previously worked in comics. The moody illustrations pair easy-to-follow large panels with occasional full-page spreads. Warm orange fills Willow's scenes and conveys her warmth and fire for justice; when the action moves to E. Nigma and Pammie Isley (another Gotham villain), the cool white and greens predominate, fitting the calculated machinations happening off-page. As befits an origin story, the superhero/vigilante element is relegated to the back half. The villains read as White; the background cast reflects the diversity of New York City.
An intriguing introduction. (Graphic adventure. 11-14)
- Kirkus Reviews