Quiet Crossings

Debut creator Partridge leverages fantasy allegory surrounding death and grief in this reflective and heartfelt speculative graphic novel. After crashing her truck and becoming stranded, cautious teen Selena stumbles upon a countryside inn, an unusual establishment purportedly located at the edge of the world, where departing visitors embark on a one-way ferry to the mysterious Great Unknown. Alice, the inn’s bubbly clerk, offers Selena room and board while Selena repairs her truck, provided she runs errands around the property. As time passes, Selena befriends the inn’s quirky inhabitants, including stylish elderly Iris and wary teenage newcomer Lily, who encourage Selena to stay as long as she’d like. But something about the robed ferry operator, Charon, and the portentous intermittent ringing of a dinner bell set Selena on edge. Softly inked lines and cozy Earth tones invite readers into an alluring world where tea is poured with great care and unspoken questions linger in the halls of a quaint yet ominous way station residence. Beneath the surface-level charm of the impish sentient mushroom creatures that frolic about the inn’s fields and Charon’s sometimes comical silence is a profound meditation on grief and letting go. Characters are portrayed with varying skin tones. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)