Zita the Spacegirl, Book Oneby Ben Hatke
First Second (2010)
While exploring a meteor crater, Zita and her friend Joseph find a device with a tempting red button; when pressed by Zita, a portal opens and aliens kidnap Joseph. Zita leaps through to help her friend. Her adventures lead her to meet and befriend a group of aliens and robots who are neurotic, frightened, and brash, and balance Zita’s staunch heroics. They combine forces to rescue Joseph, save the planet, and rocket Zita onward in the role of Intergalactic Hero as she takes the long way home.
Appropriate Target Audience: Grades 2-5
Strengths/Weaknesses:
The story is possibly more attractive to girls than boys, although it is not stereotypical,“girly”tale. While Zita is a girl, many of the characters are somewhat genderless. These characters have needs or fears that she helps them work through, a wonderful demonstration of friendship and diversity. The theme could be “Friendships can help you make it through difficult tasks.”
Zita herself is realistic, with worries and fears, but she presses on toward her goal of saving Joseph from the “doomsday cult” known as the Scriptorians. The recommended age group for Zita is 7-10 years, but it is a wonderful one-on-one read aloud, so younger children could enjoy the spacegirl’s adventures; the adult reader would as well.
The cover shows Zita, front and center, with her friend Joseph and the new alien friends in the background. It is obvious who the hero is of this story. The panels of the story are illustrated with muted colors, backing up the text without crowding it out. Many panels, even pages, are wordless, and the drawings keep the story flowing. The art of Hatke’s facial expressions and body language convey the character’s emotions well enough that the text can be minimal. This allows the reader to think about the situations and events, and invites discussion if reading aloud.
The plot hooks you when Zita decides to press the device button again, and so follow and rescue her friend. The story is told in chapters, which cover different stages of the company’s journey toward the castle of the Scriptorians. This allows the book to be broken up into more manageable steps for less versed readers.
Joseph is rescued, and the planet saved, but Zita couldn’t return to Earth, there was energy enough to send only one person home. This isn’t a horrific cliffhanger, rather the beginning of further adventures, an invitation for the next issue with Zita and her new outer-space friends.
Meaningful/Creative uses:
Discuss how Graphic Novels are different from Novels: layout, dialog, using text and image together to tell the story. Then take a short scene from a favorite story (or even from a television show or movie) and retell it in graphic panels. How different is it from the original format?
Zita isn’t really a superhero, though she does some very brave things. Have a costume party, a cos-play, and dress as original characters. What is the inspiration behind your costume?
Before reading the follow up GNs: predict what further adventures Zita may have as she takes the long way back to Earth.
Other Appropriate Information:
Zita the Spacegirl is available in paperback and hardback; our library purchased the hardback, and it is holding up well even after several years of circulation. Worth the extra money, if your budget allows.
If you enjoy Hatke’s art, you may want to look into films by Miyazaki, such as Spirited Away or My Neighbor, Totoro.
Read Alikes:
Hilo: the Boy who Crashed to Earth, by Judd Winick, (Gr 2–5); Hilo is a robot boy who fell to Earth from space and doesn't know where he came from or what he is doing on this planet. DJ, just an ordinary Earth boy, and his best friend, Gina, help Hilo discover the secrets of his past and stop the destruction of the planet.
Lumberjanes, by Noelle Stevenson (creator of the web comic Nimona) (GR 5+); A girl-centric series focusing on a group of girls in a scout troop. They are exuberant personalities and challenge stereotypes. The Lumberjanes band together to solve puzzles, defeat monstrous creatures, and escape the ire of their camp counselor, Jen. Each protagonist has a skill that helps the group conquer every obstacle. At the opening of each chapter, an excerpt from the Lumberjanes field guide is included.
PrinceLess: Save Yourself, by Jeremy Whitley, (Gr 4–7); Princess Adrienne is no hero's fair maiden, as she'll be the first to tell you! She's the king’s seventh daughter, and so was stranded in a tower, left to be rescued by a Prince and future husband. Many Princes tried to rescue Adrienne, and failed, and she so she decides break tradition and save herself. With her protector dragon, and blacksmith friend Bedelia Smith, Adrienne sets out a quest to save her sisters.
Tags: Graphic_novel, empowerment, honor, friendship, loyalty, responsibility, outer_space, quest, girls_in_charge, rescue, series
