Vera Brosgol’s graphic novel Anya’s Ghost is written for young adult readers and primarily focuses on the theme of identity.

Comic Review

Title: Anya’s Ghost

Written & Drawn By: Vera Brosgol

Publisher: First Second Books

Page Count: 221

Released: June 2011

Reviewed By: Felicia Chow

Identity has, and still is, been a mainstay topic of written and spoken word.It is certainly a topic of discussion amongst scholars, media and peers on varying degrees of depth.Identity can be confusing for some especially at certain points in their lives.This perhaps occurs more so during the fundamental years of development when the hormones start to kick in, also known as the teenage years.

During these years of both physical and mental development there are a lot of changes happening.Puberty, interest in the opposite sex, and defying higher parental authority are some things that teenagers go through.These are the years which teens are also trying to find themselves.  They are figuring out their own individual person away from the family unit and into the real world.Teens face pressure from family and friends to be, act and do things in certain ways.At times it all seems frustrating and as if it all will never end. The idea that being a teenager and facing all these difficulties will last forever.

Vera Brosgol’s graphic novel Anya’s Ghost is written for young adult readers and primarily focuses on the theme of identity.The story focuses on a young teenager named Anya, who immigrated to the United States when she was five years old with her mother and little brother.Anya has tried to ignore and forget her Russian roots by trying to be more American which means dressing better, losing her accent, and pretending her last name is Brown instead of Borzakovskaya.Anya has fallen into the stigma of not liking herself very much.Being teased by others had led Anya to shun her Russian identity and to forge a completely new one, one that is solely American.There would be no hyphenated Russian-American in her vocabulary.

After falling down an old well in the forest, Anya’s “typical” American life gets turned upside-down.There, at the bottom, she discovers 90-year-old skeletal remains and the ghost of those remains, a young girl named Emily.Though at first Anya was brash towards Emily they soon formed an eerie type of friendship.Emily would come to Anya’s aid by giving her advice about a boy she liked and how to attract him as well as helping her with school exams.In return Anya would bring Emily along to school and social events to let her see and “live” life that Emily missed out on when she was allegedly murdered.However, their friendship begins to wane as the more Emily has influence over Anya’s personal identity the more she’s not willing to let go, leaving Anya feeling uneasy regarding whose life and identity she’s really living; hers or Emily’s. 

Being Brosgol’s first graphic novel, Anya's Ghost does come off as an autobiographical book.Like her main character Anya, Brosgol is an immigrant from Russia who has lived in the United States for most of her life.Brosgol infuses typical teenage scenarios and thoughts, such as liking the most popular student in school, wishing that you could be anyone but yourself, and when viewing oneself in the mirror the image you picture in your mind is less than stellar.As the cliché goes “we are our own worst critics,” even towards our own physical attributes and abilities. 

Brosgol introduces smart and lively writing while maintaining the realistic aura of characters we can relate too.Her drawings for the graphic novel aren’t flashy, but plain and simple which doesn’t deter away from the story but gives the book the right feel.Mostly drawn in black, white and grey the colours are suitable in that the reader is more focussed on the characters and on the true message of the story, that life (especially a teenager’s life) isn’t only black and white, that finding those shades of grey are worth every experience good and bad.

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