REVIEW: All My Friends Are Ghosts Holds Onto Hope

Sometimes, school is a nightmare. That's why Effie, the protagonist of the new KaBOOM! graphic novel All My Friends Are Ghosts, goes through so much trouble to avoid going. She goes to extensive lengths to fake being sick in what she hopes is a believable way and invests lots of time in the stories she writes, which are almost exclusively about supernatural creatures like werewolves and ghosts. From her perspective, it's not like the school wants her there, either -- she frequently misses the bus, gets made fun of for being a nerd and struggles to turn in her assignments on time.

No one really gets Effie. Then she meets Nik, Beulah, and Caim, three students from the Minourghast Middle School for Wandering Spirits, which is located in the woods near her own school. Minourghast teaches ghosts of all kinds how to navigate the world, including how to avoid lost souls -- spirits who've lost their tethers to the world and lash out dangerously when they attempt to remember who they were.

As the title implies, All My Friends Are Ghosts follows Effie as she becomes the first-ever human student at Minourghast and tries to help Nik, Beulah, and Caim rescue a lost soul before it's too late. In the process, she learns a lot about herself, her skills, and her relationships with others, as well as how she can affect people's emotions even if she doesn't realize it at the moment.

S.M. Vidaurri and Hannah Krieger craft an intriguing and whimsical world in All My Friends Are Ghosts. The book is aimed at young readers, who will surely find value in its message: everyone belongs somewhere, even if it seems hard to fit in. Though the book briefly dips into dark territory when Minourghast teacher Ms. Heck -- whose spectral form is that of an anthropomorphic cat witch -- explains how lost souls can destroy ghosts and humans alike, there is a persistent sense of hope throughout the story. It may require a lot of hard work and cooperation with others, but lost souls can be saved, even when the situation seems impossibly dire.

Vidaurri focuses on each character's personality and quirks through dialogue, which makes the characters feel real even in this supernatural setting. Effie, in particular, lives and breathes on the page, whether she's telling her mom an absurd truth, saying something unnecessarily cruel to her in-school rival or pretending to be a fish demon so she'll be allowed to attend Minourghast. Mike Fiorentino's letters literally give color to each character, enhancing Vidaurri's writing and allowing each character to take on a specific voice in the reader's mind.

The real star of All My Friends Are Ghosts is Krieger's art. She and Vidaurri join forces on the coloring, which makes everything feel unified -- especially scenes where there are multiple ghosts -- but her thick lines and dramatic facial expressions set the tone for the entire book. Simple backgrounds draw the eye to the foreground, where characters run and jump and float through the world, always in motion and always reacting to their surroundings. Action sequences feel big and explosive and intense, while emotional character moments feel tight and intimate. There is a sense of urgency to all of Krieger's art, even the muddy flashbacks, which keeps up the pacing and helps the story stick the landing.

In the current lineup of graphic novels from BOOM! Studios, All My Friends Are Ghosts stands out for its unique premise, excellent execution and bold art. This is worth reading regardless of age, although it will strike an exceptionally poignant chord with kids and preteens.

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