Anya's Ghost Download Pdf
Roseline Dyba
In the novel, unpopular Anya befriends the ghost of Emily, a girl around Anya's age who died 90 years earlier. After failing to make Anya popular and happy, Emily becomes manipulative and controlling, leading Anya to discover the truth about Emily's death.
At Emily's insistence, Anya dresses up and goes to a party attended by Sean and his girlfriend Elizabeth. There, Anya discovers that Sean habitually cheats on Elizabeth with her knowledge. Distraught, Anya leaves the party, which makes Emily angry and confused as she believed Anya and Sean were destined for each other. Anya later notices Emily becoming more controlling and adjusting her appearance by straightening her hair and smoking ghostly cigarettes. Anya goes to the library without Emily to research the killer; there she learns that Emily had no fiancé, but had instead murdered a young couple in their home after her unrequited love rejected her, and then died running from the authorities.
Once there, Anya confronts and accuses Emily of trying to live vicariously through her. Emily rebukes Anya, saying that she is no better, and that the two of them are more alike than she wants to admit. After Emily fails to push Anya into the well, Anya drops the bone back in. Emily then possesses her own skeleton and climbs out to give further chase. Anya stops and convinces Emily of the futility of her situation, causing the tearful ghost to dissipate, and the skeleton to fall back into the well. Later, Anya convinces her school to fill the well and rekindles her friendship with Siobhan.
The teen years are rough, and Anya's feeling it. Her changing body makes her self-conscious, her family embarrasses her, and she's given up on trying to fit in at school. Oh, and her new BFF is a ghost. But maybe that last is just fine. First Second bills this as "spooky, sardonic, and secretly sincere."(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Told in black-white-and-gray illustrations, this graphic novel has a deep appeal. Anya is a girl that readers will immediately relate to. She has insecurities about her body, her school, and herself. The strength of the novel comes in her character which rings very true and is written with a solid humanity. The inclusion of the ghost lends a more fantasy tone to the book, offering an appealing foil to this very real protagonist.
When Anya gets out of the well, she accidentally takes a bone from the skeleton into her backpack, allowing the ghost to come out of the well and follow Anya home. There, the ghost spends time talking to Anya and trying to get to her to open up to boys, helps her with school assignments, and is generally just her friend.
Anya's Ghost is a single-issue graphic novel by Vera Brosgol. It features Anya: an insecure, dowdy teenager, a Russian immigrant (although she's lost the accent), who finds herself struggling with the day-to-day trials of highschool life, like her crush Sean and mouthy friend Siobhan. One day, she falls down an abandoned well and discovers the bones of a young girl who fell down there before her... As well as the ghost of said girl, still haunting the well she died in ninety years prior. The ghost, Emily, turns out to be pretty friendly, and the two eventually become good friends, as well as partners in crime. (Anya uses her invisible buddy to cheat on tests, keep watch while she's smoking and spy on classmates.) Of course, these sort of things rarely end well, and soon Emily proves more of a problem than a friend.
Anya's Ghost is a story written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol, about a girl Anya who essentially falls down a well and meets a ghost that becomes her friend. It a play on the classic girl who falls into a well story, but if that girl died and another girl fell nearly 100 years later and befriends the ghost.
The story has some funny parts and overall is just a cool story that is nicely illustrated as well. The drawings remind me a little bit of the cartoons from Butch Hartman, like Danny Phantom. Maybe it is just because of the ghost similarities or maybe im just imagining it, but for some reason that Nickelodeon type art style is what Anya's Ghost reminds me of.
The story might sound like a horror story but at its core its mostly a slice of life horror comedy as Anya and her new ghost friend encounter high school girl situations. While this novel might seem like its a bit more for girls, I would say you could enjoy it easily for any sex. As for ages, I think pretty much young teens it is probably fine for. Its not very scary, but I dont want to say get it for a young child because it may scare them.
A few years ago, we learned that Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) was attached to star in director Dan Mazer's big screen adaptation of Anya's Ghost, an award-winning graphic novel by Russian writer and illustrator Vera Brosgol. Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking) penned the screenplay of the supernatural comedy, but the story of a teenage girl who rescues a ghost from an underground cave with unforeseen circumstances has seemingly fallen by the wayside.
I enjoyed the graphics (they are sort of grey-blue, which I like) and the story is very curious. It is about a girl Anya, who struggles with her appearance, the fact that she is not popular at school, that she was not born in America (she is Russian and the book is peppered with some cultural differences/references/Russian words), that she has a crush on a popular guy; she smokes because she thinks it is cool, she tries really hard to fit in, etc. One day she falls into a hole in the ground. There, she meets a ghost of a girl named Emily. The ghost follows her home and wants to be her friend. Anya is excited, because Emily is really helpful, but soon it is starting to become overwhelming.
In the novel, unpopular Anya befriends the ghost of Emily, an equitably-aged girl who died 90 years ago. After failing to make Anya popular and happy, Emily becomes manipulative and controlling leading Anya to discover that Emily actually died running from the police after murdering her unrequited love. Emily and Anya eventually face off over the truth and Emily's attempts to live the life she never had through Anya.
At Emily's insistence, Anya dresses up and goes to a party attended by Sean and his girlfriend Elizabeth. There, Anya discovers that Sean habitually cheats on Elizabeth with her consent. Distraught, Anya leaves the party which makes Emily angry and confused for she believed Anya and Sean were destined for each other. Anya later notices Emily becoming more controlling than before and adjusting her appearance by straightening her hair and smoking ghostly cigarettes. Anya goes to the library without Emily to research the killer, and learns that Emily had no fiancé, and had in fact murdered a young couple in their home after the man rejected her, and then died running from the authorities.
Once there, Anya confronts Emily and accuses her of trying to live vicariously through Anya. Emily rebukes Anya, saying that she is no better (Anya having lied to Sean and distanced herself from Siobhan), and that the two of them are more alike then she wants to admit. After Emily fails to push Anya into the well, Anya drops the bone back in. Emily then possesses her own skeleton, and climbs out to give further chase. Anya stops and instead convinces Emily of the futility of her situation, causing the tearful ghost to dissipate, and the skeleton to fall back into the well. Later, Anya convinces her school to fill the well and rekindles her friendship with Siobhan.
The Book: Anaya Borzakovskaya was born in Russia, but her family moved to the United States when she was five. Even at that young age she realized the only way she'd fit in with her private-school classmates was to lose her accent along with her baby fat.
Unfortunately, ten years later, no matter how all-American she feels, she can't escape the pain of being a teen: wanting to fit in, wishing she were prettier and thinner, experimenting with cigarettes, and hoping the cool boy will notice her. One day when wandering in the park and stewing over her troubles, Anya falls into a well. When she lights a match to assess the situation, she's startled to see a skeleton . . . and the dead girl's ghost.
Through expressive and moving black-and-white art (click on scan to enlarge), Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol tells the story of what happens to Anya after she meets the ghostly Emily Reilly. At first Anya thinks it's great to have a ghost friend, but the better she gets to know Emily, the more she questions the price of having such a companion.
The graphic novel is geared to young adults, but readers of almost any age will enjoy Anya's story. Despite the fact that there's a ghost, the book isn't that kind of spooky. There are a few scary moments, but no one except the very young will likely be bothered. Book clubs and parents can use Anya's Ghost as a starting point for discussing friendship, honesty, family, and being true to oneself.
Anya's Ghost has been a universal favorite with reviewers, and won awards from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Horn Book. It's one of the best graphic novels I've read.
The Tea: I've been so crazy busy with work lately that my afternoon tea break has become one of the highlights of my day. This week I've been drinking Adagio's Irish Breakfast Tea, a tried-and-true brew that hits the spot. Here's how the company describes their blend: "It seamlessly blends the citrusy notes of a high-grown Ceylon with the malty underscore of a pungent Assam. Spicy and jammy aroma on the leaf, malty and deep flavor with a brisk and 'buzzy' mouthfeel. Rounded sweetness in the finish." Well I don't know about all of that, but I do know it's a great-tasting tea.
The Assessment: Anya is Russian, so I'm fairly sure she's a tea drinker. And because she's a modern teen, it's not at unreasonable to think she might choose an Irish Breakfast blend. Her mother, however, probably sticks with a Russian tea.
What About You? As always, I'm interested in what you're reading this week. And what beverage would find in your glass or mug when you sit down to read?
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Thursday Tea was the brainchild of Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.
Published by First Second 2011
ISBN-13: 9781596435520
Source: Borrowed (see review policy)
Rating: A
Copyright cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)
FTC: I buy all teas myself, I am not a tea reviewer.