The New York Four by Brian Wood, Ryan Kelly

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up

Riley enters into a standardized test beta with three NYU classmates in order to make some money to get an apartment together. A good student with limited social skills due to her controlling, academic parents, the teen relies heavily on online interactions. As she begins to get to know her classmates and to reconnect with her outcast older sister, a secret virtual relationship threatens to destabilize everything. Wood is known for incorporating a strong sense of place into his comic work, and, while this is a story about growing up and learning to communicate, the classic bohemian fixtures of clubs and brownstones, and the inclusion of New York City landmarks, help make the book feel grounded. Kelly's energetic artwork conveys a sense of activity and movement. His portrayal of one character, Merissa, tends toward caricature more than the others, and panels are occasionally too busy to find the focus of the scene easily, but the detailed settings are nicely evocative. Wood tries to do too much, resulting in a scattered set-up of Riley's classmates' individual stories-glimpses of what are surely the main focuses of future volumes-leaving readers with what is disappointingly not quite an entire story, but one that is superbly told.-Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH

Kirkus Reviews

An aloof college freshman learns about life in this subdued tale of post-adolescent angst. Riley, a pretty girl who prefers text to people, struggles to adjust as she begins college. Rekindling a relationship with her estranged sister Angie, Riley takes social cues from her and her coquettish boyfriend, Frank. Riley also befriends a diverse-albeit formulaic-group of girls: Merissa, a fiery siren; Ren, a laid-back tomboy; and Lona, an enigmatic, structured girl. The four forge an unlikely friendship and deal with many of the hardships typical to college life: securing jobs, finding apartments and dating. Drawn with a heavy, fluid line, Kelly's art is the perfect complement to the urban hipster melodrama. An excellent premise falls somewhat flat on character development, however: Riley, the most developed character, leaves her counterparts slightly lagging and less fleshed-out in comparison. A cliffhanger offers hints at a possible sequel. A natural transition for maturing readers of The P.L.A.I.N. Janes and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. (Graphic fiction. YA)

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