Anya's Ghost

I recently read an interesting graphic novel called Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. Anya’s Ghost basically tells the tale of a Russian American girl named Anya who falls into a well and encounters a ghost named Emily. Emily travels around with Anya once she leaves the well and they become good friends. Little does Anya know that Emily has some dark secrets deep inside her. 

I finished the entire novel in one sitting and when you finish a novel in one sitting you know it’s good. Initially I expected a somewhat light story because of the cartoonish art style but what I got was a darker and deeper story. It shows that no matter how friendly your art may seem you are still able to convey a mature and emotional story. In the process of dealing with Emily, Anya starts to grow as a character and develop in a 200 page span. The reader doesn’t even realize how much Anya has changed until the end of the story.  

I sympathize with the main character. When I was younger if there was an Iranian person in my school my mother would always try to force me to befriend them just because we were the same race. Then I realized that we should be there for each other because we both know the struggles of being a different race in school of primarily white students. 

The story was a good read for me personally as it gave me ideas of how to condense an emotional and gripping story in a short page span. It also showed me that no matter how cartoony the art is, the story ultimately shines through. Originally I was put off by my own idea to use sprite art but after reading this tale I have no qualms or issues with implementing sprite art. I now have the techniques necessary to also have my sprites merge with my backgrounds to have them appear more naturally together. Ultimately I would also like to create a connection with the readers just as Anya’s Ghost did. If I could achieve such a feat then my story will be stronger and more interesting for all those who read it. 

More reading of other graphic novels similar to Anya’s Ghost needs to be done so I am able to gather more inspiration for my writing. Writing that connects with the writer is so crucial for a graphic novel as it resonates with the reader’s emotions and create a red string with the reader. The reader will then tie the string to their friends and acquaintances about the story they have read and some may accept it and some won’t. The goal of the writer is to have that red string that is tied to their writing become tied to everyone across the world. This is what writing is about.

Resources: Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost. New York: First Second Books, 2011. Print.