Review by Booklist Review
Inspired by rural China's "left-behind children," award-winning author-illustrator Guojing's poignant postapocalyptic tale follows young DiDi and his older sister determinedly scraping out a lonely existence in a metal hut set in a barren, sand-blown landscape. Navigating with optimism and tenderness, the devoted siblings regularly trek for water and phone calls to their mother, who's toiling far away to earn their admission to the city. One disheartening day, JieJie repairs a broken robot found in a junkyard. Reprogrammed, the AI evolves into a cherished surrogate mother, offering yearned-for food and comfort, as well as glimpses of beauty in a harsh world. When their worried mother defies factory rules to find her children, her angry confrontation leaves the AI incapacitated and DiDi and JieJie desolate. Subtle monochrome art in brilliantly paced, spare panels underscores the emotional depth of this compelling narrative. Textured backgrounds evoke the blurry grit of endless swirling sands, while soft pencil strokes outline the affectingly drawn characters, with merest touches of pale color added to highlight details. Guojing's characterization of the gradually more expressive AI mother is especially lovely; delicate shifts in the sculpted metal lines of the robot's face reveal an emerging humanity. Perfectly blending story and art, this deeply compelling fable assures middle-grade readers that, with resilience, adaptability, and the hope for connection, love can prevail even amid desolation.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Siblings JieJie and DiDi are "left-behind children" living on their own in the desert landscape surrounding utopian Oasis City, in which their mother works tirelessly to save money so the kids can live there with her. After their mother misses their daily phone call-- an occurrence that requires JieJie and Didi to brave sandstorms and the constantly shifting dunes on their trek to the desert's lone pay phone--the children embark on an unexpected journey to the local dumping ground. While digging through Oasis City's discarded, obsolete tech, they encounter a robot and activate its Mother mode, hoping it will help them navigate their parent's sudden absence until her planned return for the annual moon festival. Soft lines and simple character designs by Guojing (The Only Child) emphasize JieJie and DiDi's youthful vulnerability and optimism amid a somber landscape devastated by pollution and climate change. The delicate pencil shading evokes a powerful sense of tone and atmosphere, while large uncluttered panels inject a feeling of intimacy even in the vast desert. It's an evocative and moving graphic novel tale of sacrifice and what it means to be a family. Ages 8--12. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
As this graphic novel opens, JieJie and her younger brother, Didi, press their way through a windswept landscape toward an isolated telephone booth in the desert. It's their way of reaching their mother, who works at a factory in the "paradise" city of Oasis to make ends meet. The next time they try, on Didi's birthday, they don't get through; worried, they trek across a vast wasteland, without water and with only the clothes on their backs, toward Oasis. Along the way, they stumble upon the remnants of an abandoned, obsolete AI robot, which they activate to play the role of a mother. Before long, they develop a loving relationship with this artificial life form, but how will it compare with their real mother? The story unfolds cinematically, with carefully orchestrated images capturing evocative facial expressions in dynamic exchanges between characters seeking refuge and familial reconciliation. Softly shaded charcoal-esque panels (in pencil, toner powder, and digital editing) create a bleak, atmospheric mood, with occasional bursts of vibrant light. Themes of struggling for survival, preserving family connections, embracing humanity, and cultivating love resonate throughout this endearing tale of perseverance marked by hope against all odds. Jerry DearMarch/April 2025 p.71 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Siblings await their mother in a lonely, sandy expanse. JieJie and her younger brother, DiDi, roam a desolate desert, patiently waiting for a phone call from their mother at a telephone booth atop a dune. They ration water, avoid sandstorms, and try to stay brave. While picking through the trash produced by the gilded, impenetrable Oasis City, they discover a broken robot and take it home. With ingenuity and luck, they get it working and find themselves, to their surprise, with a reliable humanoid caregiver whom they quickly accept as their robot mother. Their human mother, the story reveals, works in the underground factories below Oasis City serving the civilization's robot overlords. This graphic novel could easily feel tragic or sinister--a family torn apart, a ravaged planet, artificial intelligence replacing humanity. But Guojing's light visual style focuses on rounded, soft strokes and gentle shading, children with chubby cheeks and hopeful smiles, and subtle elegance in the story's robot character. When the robot and human mother meet, a profound reckoning but also a hopeful resolution soon follow. The children are at the heart of the narrative, and the family they form, unconventional as it may be, offers a breath of hope in a dark time. The protagonists present East Asian; the names JieJie and DiDi (Mandarin for "older sister" and "younger brother") suggest that they have Chinese heritage. A thought-provoking, affecting allegory that reflects difficult realities yet is filled with love.(Graphic science fiction. 7-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
