Author Jessixa Bagley and illustrator Aaron Bagley's genuine and heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel Duel tells the story of an intense sibling rivalry that worsens after the death of their father.
Biracial sisters Gigi and Lucy have never attended the same school before and, since their fencer father died, they've been "at each other's throats." On their first day together at Butler Middle School, eighth-grader Gigi and sixth-grader Lucy get into a heated argument and Gigi trips Lucy in the cafeteria. Lucy challenges Gigi to a duel. ("Did you say duel?!" Gigi asks scornfully. "Fencers don't have duels--we have bouts.") Unfortunately for Lucy, she hasn't fenced since Dad died, while Gigi is on the school's fencing team. Both girls ready themselves for the battle, each reflecting on the loss of their father and his legacy.
Jessixa Bagley's first graphic novel as author is an ode to fencing. Each chapter opens with a fencing phrase, a sketch of the stance, and a description. As the story progresses, alternating between Gigi's and Lucy's endearing perspectives, so, too, do the fencing stances, as if in preparation for the bout. Jessixa Bagley (Laundry Day) touches heartstrings through the girls' expressions of grief, and uses temporal changes to round out her characters. Aaron Bagley (Vincent Comes Home) identifies the time switches through his ink and digital art, showing the present day in full-color illustrations with standardized panel borders, and displaying the past in wavy blue lines and wobbly panels. An excellent read for fans of Raina Telgemeier or Dan Santat's A First Time for Everything. --Kharissa Kenner, children's librarian, Bank Street School of Education