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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Yan, Stan

The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang

264 pp. | Atheneum | September, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781665943338 $24.99 | Paper ISBN 9781665943321 $14.99
(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Eugenia Wang wants a few simple things: to hang out at her house with her best friend, Keisha; to attend a summer camp for drawing comics; and to host her birthday party on the date of her actual birthday, April 4 -- the unluckiest of days according to Chinese superstition (the Cantonese word for four sounds like the word for death). Despite her mother's disapproval and her younger brother's snitching, Eugenia makes every effort to realize her wishes in secret. However, after a blow to her head in P.E. class, she starts having strange and scary dreams about her birthday party that manifest as new updates on the comic she is working on for her camp application. But she doesn't remember creating the drawings. As her birthday draws near and the plot of the nightmare escalates, she must figure out a way to prevent the impending catastrophes from occurring. Suspense, comedy-horror, and well-developed character growth come together in Yan's debut graphic novel, which puts a supernatural twist on a familiar premise of intergenerational misunderstandings and conflict in an immigrant family. The exaggerated proportions of his character designs call to mind children's animated shows and suit the offbeat humor of the story well. Romanized Cantonese (Jyutping) is integrated into the dialogue, and the back matter provides a Cantonese glossary as well as process notes guiding the reader through the steps for turning a script into a finished comic.
Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2025

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