A review by mat_tobin
Martian Ghost Centaur, Volume 1 by Mat Heagerty
3.0
I enjoyed this little story and think that Heagerty and Mided make for a great pairing. It's a small, American town story with a great piece of urban mythos attached to it: the sighting of the Sasquatch. For 17-year old Louie, who has lived here all her life, this is the best thing that happened to her home. It turned it into a charming tourist site, where all the residents know one another. Louie has no intention of ever leaving. So when a young property developer turns up and begins to buy out the whole town (with its ever-receding Sacquatch-tourist base), she decides that she will do whatever it takes to drive him out of town.
The concept behind the whole story was really sweet and I certainly know exactly what it's like to come from a very small town and be precious about it. In terms of a diverse cast too, Heagerty and Mided make great work here with Louie's same-sex parents as an anchor. The community of Southborough is a rich mix of gender and race.
The first thing I found difficult about the book though was the lettering which felt a font size too small in places. This ended up slowing the reading down a little for me in places. In addition, I think there was many attempts at stage-humour with people Air B&Bing in Louie's cupboard but it led to many moments in the books feeling silly rather than tugging on the heart-strings which is what I was looking for and, at times, what it felt Heagerty was pitching for too.
Finally, Louie is not the most likeable character. 17 years old without a weekend job (until she is drawn to get one) and throws the greatest fits of anger if things don't go her way; she doesn't ever truly change or grow but there was so much potential for it. Instead, everyone around her has to do the growing and changing and this just doesn't seem right to me.
Otherwise, a sweet story with great illustrations. I will definitely look for more of Heagerty's work in the future. Probably aimed at KS3+ but with nothing at all offensive so could work in UKS2.
The concept behind the whole story was really sweet and I certainly know exactly what it's like to come from a very small town and be precious about it. In terms of a diverse cast too, Heagerty and Mided make great work here with Louie's same-sex parents as an anchor. The community of Southborough is a rich mix of gender and race.
The first thing I found difficult about the book though was the lettering which felt a font size too small in places. This ended up slowing the reading down a little for me in places. In addition, I think there was many attempts at stage-humour with people Air B&Bing in Louie's cupboard but it led to many moments in the books feeling silly rather than tugging on the heart-strings which is what I was looking for and, at times, what it felt Heagerty was pitching for too.
Finally, Louie is not the most likeable character. 17 years old without a weekend job (until she is drawn to get one) and throws the greatest fits of anger if things don't go her way; she doesn't ever truly change or grow but there was so much potential for it. Instead, everyone around her has to do the growing and changing and this just doesn't seem right to me.
Otherwise, a sweet story with great illustrations. I will definitely look for more of Heagerty's work in the future. Probably aimed at KS3+ but with nothing at all offensive so could work in UKS2.