Danger and Other Unknown Risks

Uncle Bernard has tasked Marguerite and her trusty companion Daisy, the magical Chow dog, with the above quest as he explains that this is the sole way to stop the evil magic and save the world. This evil magic invaded at Y2K when technology essentially shut down and was replaced. Nothing has been the same since, and Bernard has trained Marguerite to make a difference. Her noble mission is merely to save the world!

Marguerite is a confident, ‘take charge’ sort of person who feels she is up to this enormous task, even if she really only knows one magic spell. With the help of Daisy and Jacine, a new friend she meets from the past (1999), Marguerite sets off on her quest through a post-apocalyptic world which includes remnants of the old world, such as empty stores, airplanes that don’t fly and areas now overtaken by nature.

This graphic novel is a combination of science-fiction and fantasy, with good doses of humour thrown in. Marguerite’s adventure has many twists and turns, and she meets a variety of characters, eventually learning that not everyone is who he seems to be and not everyone has the motives she assumes.

Readers will see a world which has been vastly changed, and, of course, climate change and other current world problems immediately come to mind. Author Ryan North doesn’t provide easy answers but suggests the importance of working together to solve such major problems. He also quietly raises the question of why we adults (Uncle Bernard) expect kids (Marguerite) to deal with chaos and destruction and save the world from problems we have created.

Graphic novels, of course, depend greatly on art work, and Erica Henderson’s colourful panels both entertain the eye and help the reader move through the story. The novel reads quickly, in part due to lots of panels which portray action without using words. There is plenty of colour, or occasionally shades of one more somber colour, depending on the mood and the action.

Fans of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl will be thrilled to see this graphic novel from North and Henderson, but Danger and Other Unknown Risks will appeal to any young adult reader lucky enough to take it from the shelf and give it a try.