Good as Lily by Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm
#54 in my 2007 book challenge was Good as Lily, the final book I’m going to read from the DC graphic novel imprint, Minx. Here’s why.
List of Young Adult Novel Cliches:
Smart, decent looking heroine: check
geeky boy with crush on her: check
gorgeous guy that she has crush on: check
good looking but not-too-bright mean girl as nemesis: check
diminishment of hostility between heroine and mean girl when they have moment of empathy: check
To its credit, Good as Lily had some nice detail about Korean-American kids, as well as a magical realism premise that might have been interesting had it been able to be explored in more depth. As it is, though, I found Good as Lily is about as good as the other books in the Minx line: OK. Kim, Hamm, and the other creators who work on Minx books are clearly talented, yet I think they’re being constrained by the short length and YA conventions. The books might be OK for younger girls, but I haven’t found the complexity or depth for them to engage older readers.