The Holy Terror

Not very many novels, let alone a graphic novel, stir up a visible emotional response from me (for example: something might be funny but I'll rarely laugh out loud.) This book, however, made me cry within the first 15 pages. Now, that's an accomplishment! I'll admit though, I'm a bit of a softy when it comes to moms or husbands dying, so your mileage may vary with that.The story is a familiar one; a magical object passed down in the family contains enough power to save the world, and a young girl is now tasked with making the right decisions to save those she loves. There is still plenty of originality intermixed that I didn't feel like I was reading the same old, same old. I liked the combination of steampunk-style additions, (robots, spaceships, rayguns and gadgets,) with classic fantasy characters, (like elves and other monsters.) That's something I haven't seen that often in middle grade books.Some of the character designs are odd; I don't understand why the mother's head is so long and skinny, but the full-color illustrations and backgrounds are gorgeous. I love the bunny robot character and I didn't find either child protagonist annoying or too whiny. Because of the beginning, I wouldn't recommend this for really young readers; there's a particularly harrowing scene that includes blood and death. I think this would be a good segue if you're someone who's never read manga before, since this didn't feel wholly Japanese, but it also didn't feel completely Westernized either.This first volume was a really great setup for the series and it gave me just enough of a taste of things to come that I put the rest on hold at the library right after I finished. I look forward to continuing this story.