Chasing Shadows (Junior Library Guild Selection)
Avasthi pulls a dramatic 180 from her gritty debut, Split (2010), with this hyperstylized, graphic-novel-infused superhero-origin story—though even that doesn’t suffice for this genre-bender. Seventeen-year-old twins Holly and Corey, along with Savitri—Holly’s best friend and Corey’s girlfriend—are a team of skilled “freerunners” who use the Chicago cityscape as their own improvised acrobatics course. It’s not this dangerous hobby that kills Corey, though; it’s an apparently random shooting. Devastated, Holly begins to conflate one of Savitri’s comic-­book characters, the Leopardess, with her own obsession to find Corey’s killer. Is Holly the Leopardess reborn? And is the “Lunatic Voice” telling her that she can save Corey from the so-called Shadowlands madness? The continual stylistic grace notes in the dual point-of-view voices often prevent a smooth narrative flow. But Phillips’ graphic interludes make for visceral thrills when words, or reality, fail the characters, adding further interest to this rare avenger story that takes mental illness seriously. It’s a lot to mesh, and it doesn’t always work, but it’s undoubtedly bold and unique. Avasthi continues to impress. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus