Fly by Night: (A Graphic Novel)

by Tara O'Connor

Overview

In this enviromental thriller graphic novel with a supernatural twist, Dee must find out what happened to her missing twin. An amazing mystery filled with strange creatures, high school drama, and family, this darkly illustrated book shows us that monsters are all around us.

There are monsters in the woods.

Something supernatural is lurking in the woods. While out searching for her missing sister and desperately trying to find any possible clues to her whereabouts, Dee discovers something . . . isn’t quite right . . . in the woods. Dee soon finds herself in the middle of a battle to save the pinelands, and she's finding more suspects, and more questions, than answers.

As time goes on, there is only one thing she knows for certain: there are monsters among us. But they aren’t who you should be afraid of . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593125304
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	11/30/2021
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	HL380L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tara O'Connor is comic maker and illustrator currently residing in the Ireland. She was born in the wilderness of New Jersey and when she's not making comics or teaching comics, she's probably working on an illustration of some sort. She's been drawing since before she can remember and has been drawing comics since she was about fourteen. In 2010, she braved the comics world and self-published her first mini-comic, Puddles.

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2021

Gr 7 Up—After her parents divorced six years earlier, Dee moved across the country with her dad, leaving behind her mom and Beth, her twin sister. Beth's mysterious disappearance brings Dee and her dad back to New Jersey. Authorities turn up nothing, so Dee, distraught over the distance that had grown between her and her sister, searches for clues, starting with Beth's boyfriend Lucas. Meanwhile, the Redline Central Gas Company plans to gut the pinelands surrounding the area. New owner Marshall Monroe is playing dirty, bribing local community leaders to approve the plans for his new pipeline, and Dee joins her friend Tobi in protesting the company's actions. Dee believes that Redline may have something to do with her sister's disappearance after Lucas gives her Beth's old binder, which is full of information taken from the company's headquarters. But when Dee and Lucas venture into the woods to trace Beth's steps, Dee finds herself alone and Lucas gone. She realizes that these woods hold the secrets and answers to her sister's true fate, as well as the key to protecting the town she has grown to love. In this blend of magical realism and environmental thriller, O'Connor weaves together an emotionally charged story of two sisters with urban legend. Her artwork uses thick brushstrokes, which evoke a sense of mystery yet convey Dee's hope in dire circumstances. Though the narrative is intriguing and relevant, it introduces many themes that at times distract from the central plot. Dee and Beth's last name implies that they and their family are Latinx. VERDICT Exploring environmental activism, grief, and changing family dynamics, this graphic novel will engage a wide range of readers.—Elise Martinez, Racine, WI

School Library Journal

2021-08-16
Will a teen be able to find her missing sister and save a local forest from development?

Eighteen-year-old Dee Ramirez’s twin sister, Beth, is missing. For the last six years, the girls have lived separately and grown distant—Dee moved out with her police officer father, while Beth remained with their mother. With Beth’s disappearance, Dee and her father are back in the family home, and Dee is attending Beth’s school and learning as much as she can about her life. As Dee tries to piece together clues about Beth’s disappearance, she also becomes invested in a cause Beth cared deeply about: fighting against the Redline Central Gas Company, a shady corporation determined to run a pipeline through the pristine pinelands Beth loved. With her best friend, Tobi, and Beth’s boyfriend, Lucas, Dee explores the pinelands, positive that clues to her sister’s fate must be out there. In a sharp supernatural twist, Dee encounters something otherworldly in the woods that she cannot explain but feels can help. Drawing upon a mix of contemporary environmentalism and paranormal mystery and populated with a believable cast of characters, this genre-defying thrill ride will appeal to a wide audience. The resolution may leave a bit to be desired, but the journey is filled with edge-of-your-seat creepiness. O’Connor positively portrays characters of diverse body shapes and sizes; Dee and her family’s surname cues them as Latinx. Lucas appears White, and the supporting cast is multiracial.

A buzzworthy eco-thriller. (Graphic thriller. 13-17)

Kirkus Reviews

08/23/2021

In this emotionally grounded story with a sibling bond at its heart, Dee Ramirez returns after six years to her New Jersey childhood home, following her twin sister Beth’s abrupt disappearance. The local police’s investigation has run its course, so Dee attempts to search for clues by implanting herself into Beth’s life: transferring into her high school, meeting her boyfriend, and joining the pinelands conservation group to which Beth belonged. As she investigates, the twins’ divorced Latinx father and white mother accentuate the tragic situation with persistent bickering. When Redline Central Gas owner Marshall Monroe secures approval to build a pipeline through the pinelands and Lucas disappears as well, Dee encounters a living Jersey Devil, Veradys, who may know what happened to Beth. Though plot elements compete with one another, undercutting both the mystery’s heft and the climax’s catharsis, exceptional art by O’Connor (The Altered History of Willow Sparks, for adults), with color work by Triona Tree Farrell, features thick, textured brushwork that creates an eerie suburban atmosphere full of tension. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 12–up. Agent: Pete Ryan, Stimola Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

“Exploring environmental activism, grief, and changing family dynamics, this graphic novel will engage a wide range of readers.” –School Library Journal

From the Publisher