The first couple of pages are blurry grey scale and sepia, with lots of pencil and charcoal lines that create a depth of blackness, which is unlike any middle reader comic I’ve ever seen. Then, from out of the dust/sand storm, two indecipherable figures appear. The fact that the next panel shows two small children alone within huge dunes sets the tone for this title from Canada. Think: a mash up of Metropolis and The Plow That Broke the Plains in graphic novel form…then a futuristic Mary Poppins arrives! (Or Maria Von Trapp.)
In an unnamed area of the earth, (but what appears to be an Asian culture) DiDi and JieJie live in a small box-type residence in an area wracked with constant dust storms. Their daily lives involve trudging through the sand with a sled and empty bottle to get water from the only still-working water pump and walking to the only working phone booth to talk to their mom in Oasis City, who is working in the domed city and saving up to bring them to live with her. Even though life seems bleak, older sister JieJie tries to keep her younger brother DiDi’s spirits up. One day, on DiDi’s birthday, their mom doesn’t call. She doesn’t answer when they try to call her. It’s almost too much for little DiDi to handle. Just when all seems lost, they stumble upon a broken robot in the nearby fenced-off landfill that’s full of junk. They take it home and fix it. When the robot wakes up, it asks them what they want. DiDi says he wants a mom. The robot becomes their AI Mom. There are lots of hugs and snuggling, and their food and water problems seem over. AI Mom is warm and kind, has a dust barrier to shield them on their walks, strength to carry them both when they’re tired, and a full media software library of movies and music. AI Mom is every bit the mom they’ve been missing. But what happens when their real mom comes home?
The panels are rendered beautifully in pencil and charcoal, which is layered in such a way to preserve the suspense of the story from page to page. On certain pages, the action is obscured by the smoke, pollution and dust – you can’t wait to turn the page to see what’s going to happen. Only the parts of the story that depict hope have the slightest amount of color – AI Mom’s face, some little plant starts that the family builds in a hydroponic garden, a mother fox, the sun.
This is ultimately a story about hope; I initially thought the story might be a bit dark for the 8-12 set, but it ends happily, and it might be a unique addition for the generation that will have to deal with climate change. There are no adult themes.
If you’re interested in more comics that use climate change and environmentalism as part of the plot, here are some more:
Middle Reader 8-12
Global: One Fragile World. An Epic Fight for Survival. by Eoin Colfer, et. al.
16 and up Teen / Adult
H20. Grant Calof and Jeevan J. Kang.
Habibi. by Craig Thompson.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. by Kate Beaton.
Oasis
By Guojing
Henry Holt Holt Books for Young Readers, 2025
ISBN: 9781250818379
Publisher Age Rating: 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11)
