Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez
Format/Source: Hardcover/libraryPublished: 2017
Publisher: Nobrow Press
Length: 70 pages
Genre: Middle grade spec fic (spooky)
★★★★½
Lorena Alvarez’s debut graphic novel for middle grade readers, Nightlights, tells the story of Sandy, a young girl who loves to draw. Sandy’s focus on her talent makes her an outcast among her peers at school. At night, Sandy catches the little lights that float around her bedroom. As she explains, “I catch the lights and they turn into anything I can imagine. Then I draw them so they stay with me!” One day at school, a strange girl named Morfie appears and compliments Sandy’s drawings. Sandy, excited to make a new friend, heads home to immediately draw something for the girl. But when a creature that looks eerily like Morfie appears in Sandy’s room and demands that Sandy stay and draw creatures for creepy beings to feed on, Sandy has to sand up to Morfie and recognize her own value.
Nightlights explores the concept of external validation. Before Morfie, Sandy had never needed approval to express her creativity via art. Morfie tells Sandy, “And once you realize that you need me to tell you how brilliant you are, nothing will keep us apart!” Although Sandy wants to be friends with Morfie, she resists this idea once she realizes its impact on her creativity. Sandy cleverly uses her math lesson to defeat Morfie. The final page, however, shows Morfie lurking unseen in Sandy’s creative world, with the caption “…and the things we haven’t seen yet” completing a sentence that began a few pages earlier about everything being made of atoms. Morfie’s representation on the final page suggests that Sandy’s confidence may be shaken again in the future. Not a text for the light-hearted, Nightlights may be most suitable for upper middle grade readers due to Morfie’s aggression and the ambiguous conclusion.
Alvarez’s artwork shines in this text as she portrays two distinct moods. She uses vivid colours to depict cute and friendly characters, who often have large, round features and elemental designs. She easily transforms her artwork with the narrative, also depicting bleak and grotesque characters with too many eyes and teeth in darker jewel toned settings. Her depictions of Sandy, Morfie and the girls at school are appropriately child-like and diverse. Panels that show the school girls interacting with each other contrast with panels of Sandy by herself, emphasizing her isolation from them.
The author’s biography at the back of the book notes, “Born and raised in Bogotá, Lorena’s work is influenced by the vibrancy and colour of her home town as well as the experiences and atmosphere of the Catholic school she attended as a child”. This book is #ownvoices for Latinx representation.
The Bottom Line
The stunning artwork and handling of a tricky topic make this a must read for anyone who loves a little bit of creepiness in their middle grade. Possible uses for the text include explorations of loneliness or self-confidence, creating a light and dark versions of a creature, and sharing personal talents.
Further Reading
- Author website
- Interview @ No Brow
- Review by Amy @ No Flying No Tights
- Review by Erica @ Erica Robyn Reads
- Review @ SLJ
- Review @ Publisher’s Weekly
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