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katykelly's review
5.0
I'm not a graphic novel reader, but I needed to sample this story for work (finding short stories for a school Book Club), and had heard from other librarians that this has been successfully used in their secondaries.
I would like to read the original short story by Horowitz, but I really enjoyed the adaptation. I can't comment if the text mirrors Horowitz's, but I found it cleverly done.
A boy and his parents come away from a day out, heavy rain begins and they pick up a hitch-hiker, one whom the boy immediately distrusts and soon comes to believe wants to kill him. What can he do to protect himself and his parents?
The graphic format works brilliantly here, colours of dark and wet road scenes intermingled with shots of the boy's family, his dreams/nightmare visions of what the hitch-hiker might do to him.
Very creepy, though the twists (some them) are obvious, others aren't, and for young readers, it's going to be a gobsmacker at the end.
A little violent for primary school students, but 12+ will lap this up (they already love Horowitz Horror in my library) - it's clever, not too long, nice and bloody (be warned!) but not graphic, and a very clever little tale that they will want to talk about after they've finished.
My one gripe was that I found the text a little small, it could have been larger without detracting from the visuals and been more comfortable to read.
Enjoyed this very much, it's a good read for a reluctant reader with plenty to interest them and stir up the imagination.
I would like to read the original short story by Horowitz, but I really enjoyed the adaptation. I can't comment if the text mirrors Horowitz's, but I found it cleverly done.
A boy and his parents come away from a day out, heavy rain begins and they pick up a hitch-hiker, one whom the boy immediately distrusts and soon comes to believe wants to kill him. What can he do to protect himself and his parents?
The graphic format works brilliantly here, colours of dark and wet road scenes intermingled with shots of the boy's family, his dreams/nightmare visions of what the hitch-hiker might do to him.
Very creepy, though the twists (some them) are obvious, others aren't, and for young readers, it's going to be a gobsmacker at the end.
A little violent for primary school students, but 12+ will lap this up (they already love Horowitz Horror in my library) - it's clever, not too long, nice and bloody (be warned!) but not graphic, and a very clever little tale that they will want to talk about after they've finished.
My one gripe was that I found the text a little small, it could have been larger without detracting from the visuals and been more comfortable to read.
Enjoyed this very much, it's a good read for a reluctant reader with plenty to interest them and stir up the imagination.
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