The Good Neighbors : Book 1 Kin by Holly Black

It's not easy being a teen, and it doesn't help when your parents start acting strange.  Three weeks ago, Rue Silver's mother disappeared and her father has withdrawn, sitting in front of the television for hours on end.  To top it all off, she has started seeing things, or rather beings, that should and can't possibly be there.  Fanciful and possibly magical creatures.

Rue's world has met up with the fairie realm and she has no idea how to deal with it.

When we meet Rue, she is wearing a longish, girlie dress and it lulled me into thinking that she was going to be a weak clingy girl.  She is nothing like that.  She is head strong and determined to find her mom and get her family back together no matter what it takes and who or what she has to overcome.

As with most graphic novels, this is a quick read, but it left me with so many questions that I wanted more right away.

The artwork by Ted Naifeh  is excellent.  His drawings fill in all sorts of details in the story line and emphasize the other worldiness of the fairie beings. His use of black and white had me looking at each panel with equal importance. 

Author Holly Black is well known for her earlier series The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Cover image courtesy Scholastic Books