An emotional LGBTQ coming-of-age graphic novel, with a magical twist,  for fans of Bloom  and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me , where  a pottery student finds her artistic voice—and her first love. Just as Jade is about to leave for a summer art program, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. How is Jade supposed to focus on her ceramics when Phoebe is in so much pain? At the Art Farm, Jade is thrust into a whirlwind of creation, critiques, and the fervor of her fellow artists. As she gets to know her classmates, she begins to fall for upbeat, whimsical Mary. The Art Farm is competitive. Jade's teachers are exacting. Overwhelmed, Jade pours herself—and her emotions—into making clay creatures. When she fires them in the kiln, something unreal happens: they come to life, running wild and wreaking havoc. If Jade won’t confront her problems, her problems are going to confront her, including the scariest of them all: If Jade finds a way to grow, thrive, and even fall in love this summer, is she leaving Phoebe behind? Gr 9 Up-Heavy with guilt over her best friend Phoebe's suicide attempt, Jade heads to sleep-away camp at the Art Farm. As Jade attempts to distract herself, she struggles to stay present at the camp and makes novice mistakes with her kiln, which destroys pieces created by her fellow campers. Mary, a romantic prospect, temporarily attracts Jade's attention and focus in a positive direction, but when Jade's Phoebe-inspired sculptures come to life and wreak havoc, her mind returns to the dark place she's been working to escape from all summer. Making expert use of white space and color, Pandya's sketchy, expressive artwork illustrates McCoola's shifting tones. Though the layout occasionally makes following dialogue difficult, overall this graphic novel successfully brings the story to life via symbolism and figurative language coupled with deeply developed characters. There are mature, elegant depictions of human anatomy within a character's portfolio. Mary and Jade appear to be Asian, while Phoebe appears to be white. VERDICT With themes ranging from mental health to self-discovery, this art-infused text will entice graphic novel fans and art students and leave them wanting another installment of Jade's story.-Angie Jamesonα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. ALA Rainbow Book List Pick Indie Bestseller Indie Next Pick TLA Maverick List Pick “A fierce, transformative graphic novel about art and relationships.” — Kirkus Reviews   “This graphic novel successfully brings the story to life via symbolism and figurative language coupled with deeply developed characters…With themes ranging from mental health to self-discovery, this ­art-infused text will entice graphic novel fans and art students and leave them wanting another installment of Jade’s ­story.” — School Library Journal   Marika McCoola  is a writer, illustrator, educator,  and the  New York Times   bestselling author of  Baba Yaga's Assistant . She has spent over a decade working to connect books with readers. She studied illustration, art history, creative writing, and ceramics at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and received her BFA in illustration in 2009.   Aatmaja Pandya  is a cartoonist and illustrator born and raised in New York. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2014 and has been illustrating professionally ever since.  Slip  is her first graphic novel.