Friday, August 29, 2025

Heartthrob Vol. 1: Never Going Back Again

Heartthrob Vol. 1: Never Going Back Again by Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV, & Nick Filardi

This graphic novel tells the story of a young woman born with a weak heart, leading a sheltered life and waiting for a heart transplant that will give her maybe five years of normal life at most before it too wears out. When she gets the transplant the donor's name and situation are kept secret but she begins to believe he was a master thief and his heart comes with more than just renewed health.

Before Dorothy

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor

In the Wizard of Oz genre Dorothy Gale lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on their farm in Kansas. Not much else is known about her life before her visit to Oz via a tornado. Hazel Gaynor provides a back story with this book about Emily Gale, her two sisters, and her life in Chicago before she met Henry Gale and moved to Kansas. When Emily's sister Ann and her husband John Gale die their orphan daughter Dorothy is taken in by Emily and Henry. Set in Roaring 20's Chicago and 1930s Dustbowl Kansas, we learn about their life on the prairie which is filled with foreshadowings of Dorothy's time in Oz.
As a long time Oz fan this book was a joy for me to read, and would be good for anyone who knows about Dorothy and Oz.