Customer Reviews

The War at Ellsmere

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I need to preface this review by stating that I always wanted to go to a prep or military school. The whole concept of it appeals to my personality and temperament. This book shines a somewhat different light than my previous expectations. The War at Ellsmere is a book primarily about a young scholarship student at a very pretentious school. Juniper is 13 years old and has won a scholarship to the Ellsmere Academy. She wants to use her time there to give her a better chance at post secondary education. She has more street smarts than most of the students at the school, and for the most part cares less what others think, as long as she does well in school to better her future. But soon she has a sworn enemy in Emily, a girl with a silver spoon, and a major attitude. The artwork is amazing and the story intense. It was a great story that I have already read three times and know I will read again in the future.

I had to read this for a comic book English class I took last year. I really enjoyed it- for me it was like Gossip Girl with a swirl of Gossip Girl.
I know that if I had read it when in middle school I would probably have wanted to read more comics like this one. It had a punch- literally- when the antagonist got a little too in your face with Juniper.

Juniper's attitude was great, exactly what I'd want to see in a young teen trying to just get what she needs done, done. The only thing that was a little hard to take was the unicorn. Other than that, GREAT. :-D

A romantic mansion turned into a boarding school. A mysterious forest. A bookish outsider and a nasty clique. Either this setting will make you perk up with interest or leave you cold, but don't be fooled by Ellsmere's respectable and traditional facade. Like the titular boarding school itself, there are depths, horrors and rewards awaiting those who venture past the stately facade. The War at Ellsmere is indeed a charming boarding school tale spiced with just a dash of magical realism. Yet Faith Erin Hick's work rises above the field crowded with aimless Harry Potter wannabees and tomes of inflated autobiographical anguish.

The witty self awareness of the dialog is sharp enough to amuse, yet never falls into the trap of it's own cleverness. Through out it all our heroines Juniper and Cassie remain authentic to subtle insecurities and character triumphs of teenagers. Equally notable is the absolutely engrossing artwork. With bold black ink strokes and an occasional gray wash Hick manages to draw an amazing range of scenes both intimate and expansive. Yet it the girls roaming the halls of Ellsmere that are the most remarkable. The combination of subject and medium is a recipe for simplified caricatures differentiated only by stereotypical attributes, but Hick's young protagonists are anything but. Juniper's tomboyish dress and sullen defensiveness change in a flash to a mischievous determination all while remaining unmistakably her. Cassie's art work is even more remarkable, capturing both her ethereal elfin features and unspoken emotions in a handful of heavy dark lines. Even our antagonists individual fashion sense deserves note.

Are there negatives? Of course, but I'm not writing a school essay or proving my critical chops by nitpicking a creation I would be proud of myself. Hick's work was a delightful surprise and personally I can't wait for her next creation. In fact I think I'll go order more of her books now...

I think this is what's called "middle grade" fiction. It's a nice little comic about an overachiever and a queen bee, pretty well paced and well told, but that's it. Good readers in middle school are capable of reading books that are far more ambitious.

I use the ALA great graphic novel list to purchase good reads for my classroom and I really enjoyed this choice and so did my kids.

it is a graphic novel and soo fun to read. it is an awesome whiz bang comicbook that i love the medium in general

it is a graphic novel and soo fun to read. it is very interataining! sorry but SPOILER ALERT: IT WAS THE UNICORN FROM THE FOREST THAT SAVES THE DAY!!! (I LIKE HOW THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A HOUSE BUT IT WAS A UNICORN... LOLZ)