Haru: Spring by Joe Latham (review)

Reviewed by: Haru: Spring by Joe Latham April Spisak Latham, Joe Haru: Spring; written and illus. by Joe Latham. Andrews McMeel, 2024 272p Trade. Ed ISBN 9781524889616 22. 99 Paper ed. ISBN 9781524884734 14. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6 Haru is an outsider among their other bird peers—they don't look the same as them, and they have much bigger dreams to explore the world than other animals in their school. Their best friend, Yama, is a boar who doesn't share Haru's ambitions but is happy to explore the woods with them, and it is on one of those wandering excursions that Yama finds and pockets an object that they later find out is a cursed relic, the Heart of Briar. This item won't go away, returning again and again to Yama and leading Haru and Yama to embark on a dangerous quest to take the relic through the aptly named Malady Mire. Haru didn't specifically imagine themselves to be a prophecy fulfiller, but given their openness to adventure and courage, they are perfectly designed for it, particularly with the level-headed Yama to balance out any inclination to dive headlong into danger. This debut graphic novel, the first in an anticipated trilogy, is a visual gem, with lush, vibrant colors competing with bruised, dark shading as the bird and boar stumble further away from safety. The pen-and-ink drawings tell as much as the text, with some panels that have few or no words being the most powerful in conveying the defiant and bold personality of Haru, sturdy even as most of the world towers over their small blue body. It's not a ring or a Horcrux, but the small thorny relic is pretty close, and an epic journey to rid themselves of it (and thus stop an evil force) has a familiar, but not unwelcome, vibe. Readers will likely be keeping an eye out for the next volume, particularly after a cliffhanger ending. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois