Water Baby - Softcover

Ross Campbell is a young writer/artist whose first major work was as artist on Antony Johnston's Oni Press graphic novel, Spooked. This brought him to the attention of manga giants Tokyopop, for whom Campbell created gothic horror Wet Moon and zombie action series The Abandoned, which went on to receive wide critical acclaim and establish a devoted fan-base for his uniquely goth-tinged art style and particular knack with character design.

Grade 10 Up–Surfer girl Brody is attacked by a shark and wakes up in the hospital to find most of one leg missing and her life changed. Brody, who is bisexual, has always been self-reliant, and while she remains tough to outsiders, her friends see her moments of weakness and despair. After she learns to walk with her artificial leg, she asks her friend Louisa (who has bisexual potential) to help drive her deadbeat, live-in ex-boyfriend Jake (who is girl-crazy) back home. Meanwhile, Brody continues to have nightmares about sharks: about her friends being attacked by one, or about becoming one herself. Brody and Louisa are black while Jake and several of his lovers are white. The artwork is well conceived, mostly realistic but blurring into the fantastic when Brody has one of her (mostly wordless) nightmares. The cover is phenomenal; the profile of the top half of Brody's body is striking enough to make most teens stare at it for a few moments longer, maybe even picking it up to see if her lower half continues on the back cover. It does, and when they see her one real leg and one artificial one, curious readers and those who love survivor stories will want to find out what happens to this unusual girl.–Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library
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