I've been making my way through a long list of books recommended by a librarian friend of mine. Thanks to her positive review of "Ghostopolis", I checked out the book, liked it, then decided to see what other books the author had under his belt. The premise of this sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot, and I'm now excited to read the rest of Doug TenNapel's works.
A young boy named Ely has virtually no friends to speak of, save for his beloved golden retriever, Tommy. But one day, Ely's dog is tragically killed in a car accident. Soon after, Ely is sent to spend the summer with his grandpa out in the country to help take his mind off things. And then, one fateful day, while exploring a cave near his grandpa's farm, Ely discovers a tyrannosaurus rex---not a skeleton or fossil---an actual, somehow preserved, fully real and alive one.....a T-rex that acts suspiciously like his recently deceased dog. Ely is overjoyed to have a dinosaur for a pet, and throws himself into training him and taking care of him; eventually winning the hearts and imagination of the entire town. But when an overly jealous bully makes it his mission to make Ely's life miserable, it may take a dinosaur to teach a boy how to deal with the death of a loved one....and how to forgive your enemy.
The sketchy art style that made up "Ghostopolis" is back again here, with simple panel layouts that evoke the style of reading a newspaper comic. But the art CAN get detailed, with dramatic lighting and angles when need be. And though this book is mostly geared for kids, I'd still recommend it for ages 10 + for two reasons. One; the moment where Ely's dog is hit by a car is actually shown (though it's drawn in a way to not be super graphic). And two; there's more than a few instances of gross out humor (in particular a couple pages dedicated to an extended poop joke that can get pretty sickening).
Despite those two points, this is an enjoyable read, which is, by and large, a modern day fairy tale. It's at turns hilarious as Ely tries to train the T-rex to do tricks and take care of him like any other pet. (And while it's later revealed how the T-rex became preserved, it's left ambiguous if the T-rex is Tommy reincarnated or not, though many clues point towards "yes".) The whole town barely bats an eye at the dinosaur in their midst. Or rather, they don't really question HOW it got there, but are just more concerned with the destruction it could cause. But little by little, the town is won over by their new prehistoric friend (including a bumbling mayor who sees the dino as his ticket to re-election). The story is admittedly weird, but even had me teary eyed by the end.
But the book's strongest asset is its characters and its ability to say a lot with just a few images and little to no dialogue. Tommy the T-rex is the most loveable dinosaur you'll ever meet, and Ely's grandpa dishes out wise life advice, yet can be just as childish as his grandson at the same time. And both of our main protagonists go through a character arc. Randy the bully learns to not take his anger about his absent father out on other people, and not give into jealousy. And Ely learns to move on from losing his pet, and how to not give into hate, and forgive Randy for his actions. And in the end, the two just may become unlikely friends.
If you like stories about a kid and their oddball companion/pet, like "The Iron Giant", or "Frankenweenie", this is the book for you.
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Top reviews from other countries
Alexandr Ureti
Another Dougs graphic novel.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 11, 2018
