Is an old lady isolated in the forest necessarily a witch? Appearances are often deceiving… Or not. It is this paradox that will discover the heroine of Snapdragon published by the promising publishing house Kinaye.
Snapdragon, a heroine looking for herself
Snaps lost his dog. To find him, the girl dares to approach the witch's lair. Snaps then sees through the window his beloved animal. She comes in and gets angry with the occupant of the house. As is often the case, she is a lonely and marginal old woman who lives isolated in the forest. Jacks is not dangerous, though. She treated Snaps' dog and then took the girl under her wing and made her discover a world very different from everyday life. The title of this complete story is that of the heroine whose strange name comes from her mother's favorite flower. Snaps is a mixed-race child raised alone by her mother. She is therefore forced to fend for herself. The same day she speaks with Jacks, the girl meets Louis who loves the same witch novels. This young African-American feels different from his two brothers and the two children quickly become close.
Don't rely on gender
Without ever holding a sign, Snapdragon is a feminist narrative because it subverts gender stereotypes. The reader certainly discovers how society classifies and imprisons but also how everyone frees himself and affirms his true nature. As Snap's mother worries that she will be left alone, the girl invites Louis to watch horror movies. Proud to have a new friend, he accepts but it is the boy who is the most scared. Snap is the tough one while he likes to varnish his nails. Kat Leyh knows how to use very simple words for situations that others find complex. It plays down the debates and proposes to follow simply happy people. This modernization of the representations also concerns the oldest. Even if Snapdragon will learn not to trust appearances, Jacks still has many secrets. In her youth, she raced wild motorcycles. Jacks wears a witch's outfit on the outside but she prefers Hawaiian shorts and bright yellow t-shirt inside. She recovers the crushed animals and then, with the bones, she reconstructs skeletons that she sells very expensive on the internet. All these ideas pass smoothly and with great benevolence from all the characters. Snapdragon is a breath of fresh air in this sometimes dark period. Kat Leyh's very simple and colorful drawing close to the cartoon reinforces the optimism of the story.
Everything changes…
Kat Leyh offers a very diverse gallery of secondary characters and she manages over the pages to make them more and more interesting without ever making them simple moral figures. Snapdragon characters are not fixed but evolve. The savage and grumpy Jacks opens. Snap learns anatomy and much more after that. She does not let herself be done and fights for ideas. Meeting Jacks and then Louis brings her friends and then she smiles at life. The two discover ancient and secret links between them. Indeed, the book has a very subtle construction that reconstructs the past with each revelation. Small details are filled with meaning like the heroine's hairstyle. Of course, a child will not understand everything but you will, and this story will take on a completely different flavor. We can also understand the whole process of creation through sketches and even more educational through images of the different stages from sketch to finished drawing. Snap's mother is also very touching. She is very loving but in addition to working a lot continues her studies. Not only does she fight to succeed in life, but she ignores social constraints to always support her daughter and friends. Snapdragon is a great children's story with its vibrant and varied gallery of characters that will resonate with young readers. But adults will also love this tale about characters in transformation, in transition. Finally, he will be fascinated to see Kat Leyh gently deconstruct the genre. If you are looking for other young adult stories, you can find the chronicles on The Bay of Aquicorn and Pilu of the Woods.
