Told in an episodic way, Coral’s story is like that of other teenage girls—except she’s a sea sprite and her best friends are a siren and a dryad. Coral has a lot of responsibilities she must balance between helping her mom sew dresses at her shop to teaching tourists how to surf at the local resort. One day, Coral is surfing in a little cove that rarely sees visitors when a fire ifrit named Nick Inferno washes up on the beach. Quite literally! It turns out he is trying to learn how to surf, but had a mishap and was just floating in the ocean until he was pushed ashore in Coral’s cove.
Coral develops a crush on Nick after talking to him, but he’s not from the area and she doesn’t know if she’ll ever see him again. In the meantime, Coral meets the new dryad assigned to revitalize the area’s nature and helps her learn about social interactions, including the very important reason for always wearing clothes—boys. Coral also bestows the name Lillyana to her new friend. Other slice-of-life and humorous moments are included in the narrative to flesh out the first volume.
My favorite part of this graphic novel is the color palette. The pastels and preference for cool colors in the storytelling and creating the characters evokes calm emotions and pleasant feelings. It also helped the characters with warm color schemes stand out when introduced.
At first, the story felt very episodic with little connecting plot; however, after the first couple of chapters, things start coming together. A mystery about Coral is introduced, misunderstandings abound, and relationships develop at a believable pace. The book also ends with a massive cliffhanger, so be prepared for readers to want the second volume as soon as possible! This is a great addition to any collection that has preteen or teen readers.
Coral’s Reef, Vol. 01
By David Lumsdon
Art by Shiei Hollendonner
Seven Seas, 2023
ISBN: 9781645059790
Publisher Age Rating: 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
Creator Representation: Canadian
