Bea Wolf

Bea Wolf

Zach Weinersmith

Boulet (Illustrator)

First Second, 2023

183 pages

Grades 5-Adult?

Graphic Novel

Be transported to a land where kids rule in this modern retelling of the classic Beowulf. The thousand year old epic poem, originally written in Old English, is made fresh in a tongue-in-cheek approach to childhood. In a society made-up of very small parentless children, King Roger inherits the throne. In order to put his mark on this wild sugar-induced society before aging out, he gets a great idea. King Roger decides to build a treehouse, dubbed Treeheart, which serves as a sanctuary for wild children up to all kinds of shenanigans. Unfortunately, a crabby neighbor by the name of Grindle vows to take down the rambunctious crew. He wins the first battle, turning most of the Treeheart's inhabitants into teenagers and old people. Luckily, a nearby King, who owes a debt, sends her best warrior with a band of child-thugs to lend aid to poor King Roger. A wicked battle ensues, with poor Grindle suffering an unpredictable fate. Our story ends with a party to end all parties and a potential cliff-hanger to lead to another installment.

Hmmm, this book is a tough one. Librarians and other literary adults love it. It is already on the top of many best books of the year lists. Every library in my consortium bought it, maybe because of all the star reviews it received. That said, out of 56 copies in the system, 46 remain currently on the shelf, and one of those is checked out to me. The question remains: who is the intended audience? The writing is exquisite. Weinersmith manages to capture the texture and patterns of the original poem and contemporize it, adding humor and substituting small children as the main characters. The writing is thick and unfamiliar to young readers, who won't have the patience to persevere through the language. The illustrations, though a cut above the usual fare for young people, may be off-putting in that they are entirely in black and white. The cover is enticing with gold accents, but no color within. I asked a group of graphic reading middle school kids what they thought of this book and they couldn't get through the first few pages. Sure to win awards, and deservingly so, this is a book for literary adults familiar with the poem or, maybe, really clever young people looking for more meat in their comics.