Will & Whit

by Laura Lee Gulledge

Overview

Wilhelmina "Will" Huxstep is a creative soul struggling to come to terms with a family tragedy. She crafts whimsical lamps, in part to deal with her fear of the dark. As she wraps up another summer in her mountain town, she longs for unplugged adventures with her fellow creative friends, Autumn, Noel, and Reese. Little does she know that she will get her wish in the form of an arts carnival and a blackout, courtesy of a hurricane named Whitney, which forces Will to face her fear of darkness. Laura Lee Gulledge's signature visual metaphors will be on full display in this all-new graphic novel, a moving look at shedding light on the dark corners of life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613124666
Publisher:	Abrams, Harry N., Inc.
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	35 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Laura Lee Gulledge is the author of Page by Paige, which was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Award. She has worked in art education, scenic painting, textile design, and event production, among other pursuits. Visit her online at whoislauralee.com, where she regularly posts new and in-progress art.

Editorial Reviews

There are three things to know about 16-year-old Willhemena Huckstep: she always describes people by saying there are three things you should know about them, she’s smart and funny, and something has made her afraid of the dark. Fortunately, some quirky friends—Autumn, who makes puppets, and Noel, who’s secretly in love with Autumn—and the diversions of tropical storm Whitney and a community art event offer Will the support she needs. Gulledge (Page by Paige) creates engaging characters (especially Reese, Noel’s precocious younger sister), and draws them with believable expressiveness. The shadows that haunt Will are visible to readers and drop plenty of hints about her story, like the gray image of a destroyed car that appears as the shadow of an ordinary one as Will cycles by. Trauma and creativity, strength in community, and truth-telling are all thoughtfully examined, and the jokes are good, too: “This cookie’s ruined!” Autumn announces to Noel. “Someone licked it,” she says, licking it. “How tragic!” Gulledge’s values are wholesome, and her energy is up-to-the-minute fresh. Ages 12–up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (May)¦

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up—Sixteen-year-old Will is afraid of the dark, so she creates light. More specifically, she creates things that emit light: lamps. Since her parents died in a car accident about a year earlier, she's busied herself with her craft in addition to helping her aunt with the family business, Foxxden Antiques. When a storm comes to town (the titular Whit) and causes a blackout, Will is forced to deal with her greatest fear without the benefit of her most important coping mechanism. How she chooses to do so enables her to redefine herself with courage and hope in the light of her tragic loss. The most striking feature about Gulledge's second graphic novel is the organic nature of the layouts. Action and dialogue flow smoothly from panel to panel, barely acknowledging their confines. Thick, sumptuous lines separate characters from richly detailed backgrounds, and this is all done in black and white. Gulledge populates her story with unique and likable characters who relate easily and naturally to one another. Will and Whit is a big step up from Page by Paige (Abrams, 2011), showing a little more narrative range and, perhaps, a taste of things to come.—J. M. Poole, Webster Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

After the untimely death of her parents, an artistic girl living with her aunt must face her fears. Willhemena Huckstep--Will for short--is planning on spending a perfectly quiet summer working at her aunt's antiques shop, making lamps and spending time with her friends. Two fateful events quickly steer her plans off course: a chance meeting with a group of teens who are putting together an eclectic carnival and a savage summer storm named Whitney that will plunge her town into a prolonged blackout in its wake. Offbeat Will is scared of the dark (her lamp-making skills came from her grandfather, who taught her how to make her first night light). In confronting the darkness, both literal and figurative, though, Will finds herself stronger and happier than she could have imagined. Peppered with pop-culture references from Doctor Who to The Hunger Games and supported by Gulledge's stylish black-and-white illustrations, this sophomore offering shines as bright as the lamps Will surrounds herself with. Will is an intensely likable character, as are her funky group of friends. With its emphasis on a world wonderfully unplugged, maybe this will jar some readers' memories about how excellent and exciting a life without Facebook and Twitter can be. Quirky, clever and insightful; a must-read for fans of Raina Telgemeier. (Graphic fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews