• When you can float through the air and conjure up monsters out of ectoplasm,you're bound to attract attention. Come stare at Ms. Serenity Rose, local witch,as she spends the day dodging goblins, goths, and a bad case of social phobia inthe spookiest lil town in America.
• A Booklist Starred Review - Serenity "Sera" Rose tries to live a quietlife. She has her friends Tess and Kelton and her art. For the most part, she ishappily sullen among Crestfallen's gothy not-quite-subculture. But the fact thatshe is a witch makes her dreams of anonymity seem out of reach. It's bad enoughtrying to avoid becoming a tourist attraction and dodging the goth wannabes, butwhen vampires start turning up and rock star-witch Rivet Hed's creepy managerwants something from her, she knows her life won't be quiet much longer. Thereare a lot of words to read in Serenity Rose, but in the first collectionof it, they're all worthwhile. Aaron A. (for Alexovich) isn't afraid to taketime to develop a plot, which means there is also time to get to know thecharacters and appreciate the full-on snarky sarcasm of his humor. While thesetting is an urban gothic subculture, plenty of potshots are taken at thecliches of cool among its inhabitants. A.'s artwork is beautiful, a sort of darkhomage to animation genius Chuck Jones with a splash of Ameri-manga forgood measure. Even in shades of gray rather than color, it has enough attitudeto stop a truck, making it a nice contrast to all those stuffy superheroes onthe graphic-novel shelves.