Snapdragon written and illustrated by Kat Leyh

When Snapdragon Bloom goes looking for her missing dog, she befriends the town witch and finds more than magic within herself. 

There's a rumor that a witch lives in a house on the outskirts of town, but when Snapdragon's dog Good Boy goes missing, she dares to look for him there. Sure enough, the dog is there, but he's been injured and is missing a front paw. When the rumored witch returns, she tells Snap that the dog was hit by a car and she patched him up. 

Snap is a fierce, fearless, precocious black middle schooler not afraid to take on bullies, often standing up for her neighbor and best friend Lu, who is also black and transgender. Living in a trailer park, Snap is the only child of a mother who must work lots of hours to support them, and who is also getting her degree at night. Good Boy belonged to an old boyfriend who was abusive but is now gone, though he does appear twice in this novel. 

When Snap finds a litter of possum joeys beside their dead mother, she brings them to the "witches" house, hoping they can be saved. The witch turns out to be an older white lady named Jacks, who is more connected to the world than first impressions would give. Jacks collects roadkill, which she buries, then after they decompose, she cleans the bones and reassembles them, selling the skeletons online. 

Creeped out, but also fascinated by Jacks' work, Snap talks her into letting her help take care of the joeys. As a friendship develops between Snap and Jacks, Snap becomes interested in learning more about the skeletons articulated. Snap is also convinced that Jacks really is a witch who uses magic to release the souls of the dead animals back to nature. And as they get to know each other even better, it turns out they have a history of family connections that go back a few generations. So maybe if Jacks can do magic, so can Snap, or at least, that's what Snapdragon hopes.

In the world of graphic novels, Snapdragon is in a class of its own, what you might call a mixed bag. There are magical elements, a mix of humor and sadness, social and social justice issues, marginalized characters, LGTBQ and gender-bending elements, domestic abuse, the roadkill creepiness factor which spikes and just as quickly falls, all wrapped up in a really unusual story.

What I really loved was the way these generally serious topics unfolded so organically throughout the novel, but without lessening any of their importance. Leyh also gives Snap a support system, family and friends who have her back, that gives her the confidence to be unique herself. I also liked the fact that with the last name Bloom family tradition is to name all the girls after flowers, a seemingly unimportant detail that ends up playing an important part in the story.

The author also did all the art work for Snapdragon. Each vivid full color cell is clear and bright, even the darker cells, and color works to add more and more layers to the story. And Leyh has also really captured her character's many moods and feelings through their facial expressions, especially Snap's.

Snapdragon is a wonderfully engaging graphic novel for middle graders who are looking for something good but different.   

This book is recommended for readers age 10+

This book was an E-ARC received from NetGalley