Anya's Ghost

Review from Booklist Reviews:

Like Hope Larson's Mercury (2010), Brosgol's spooky, polished debut offers something that's still too rare in comics: a realistic, contemporary teenage girl's story. Growing up with her single Russian mother and younger brother, Anya works hard to fit in, and she distances herself from nerdy, heavily accented Dima, another Russian immigrant at her school. On a shortcut to school, Anya tumbles into a well, where a pile of bones swirls into the visible ghost of a young girl, Emily. When Anya is rescued, Emily comes along and becomes a constant companion, helping Anya cheat on tests and talk to crushes. With expert pacing and detail, Brosgol perfectly calibrates the subtle shifts from Anya and Emily's sunny, BFF bonding into the nightmarish reality that Emily has a terrifying agenda. Working in a clean-lined, cartoon style and an appropriately moody, bruiselike palette of purples and blacks, Brosgol uses clever panel arrangements and shifting close-up and aerial perspectives to amplify the action and emotion, from Anya's initial elation to her primal terror. The story of a teen who worries about appearing "fresh off the boat" makes this a natural companion to Gene Luen Yang's Printz Award winner, American Born Chinese (2006), and the contrast between everyday high-school concerns and supernatural horror add even further, broad appeal. New fans will hope for more from this talented newcomer.