Hey so speaking of โ did you know Rainbow Rowell once wrote a Star Wars story? Well, Star Wars-adjacent, at any rate. For World Book Day a couple of years ago she came out with a short little story about a group of fans waiting in line for the premiere of ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด. I read it a short while after the story came out and, like a lot of Rowellโs work, I pretty much loved it. Hereโs a short review from an old blog:โ
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๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด, ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐). ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐.โ
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐
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๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ข-๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ธ๐โ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข.โ
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๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.โ
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Like every December since the first film in the sequel trilogy came out, Star Wars has been on my mind a lot, which is why I decided to revisit the slim volume. I enjoyed it just as much this time around, appreciating especially how it captures the eager, edgy excitement a lot of fans of the saga felt in the run-up of the release of TFA. You know, before the dark times. Before the ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ. This does tragically make the story act somewhat like a time capsule, however, portraying as it does a facet of fandom that seems quaint and innocent considering the meaningless gatekeeping and toxic rhetoric that is so maddeningly prevalent these days. Alas. โ
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You and I can still enjoy things, though. Itโll be our secret. โ
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Shortly after finishing the novella, I was made aware of a series of fairy tale retellings a bunch of prominent authors were doing for the Amazon Original Stories initiative. Rowell was one of these writers, contributing ๐ป๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐, an odd little tale that doesnโt seem to be an interpretation of any one fable in particular but instead plays with the troll-under-the-bridge narrative. The story seems to be a blend of Rowellโs realistic contemporary style and the dark whimsy found in her fantasy fiction. This makes it a bit disjointed but it works for the most part. The aforementioned gift is once more in full display here as I also finished this peculiar yarn wanting to know more about the two protagonists, and about the world in specific, which appears to be a sort of post-climate apocalypse mythical land (that, you know, still has Starbucks). Also because once I read that title I just ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ Rowell would make them fall in love with each other and that I would buy it hook, line, sinker โ and, reader, I ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ.
Tag: rainbow rowell
PUMPKINHEADS by Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks
Rainbow Rowell has made me cry.ย Yet again. I’ve read enough of her work for this to be expected, but everything aboutย Pumpkinheadsย โ her first graphic novel with the inimitable Faith Erin Hicks โ sounded to me like it was just going to be a cute, fun romp.
And it was, you know?ย Pumpkinheads is the story of Josiah and Deja, two high school seniors who’ve spent the last couple of years working at their local pumpkin patch every Fall. Theirs is a seasonal friendship, but the bond they develop is strong and they consider themselves best friends. This is their last season working together, and once it wraps up they will both, for the last time, go their separate ways, towards college and new lives. So Deja is determined to have their last day (their last Hallowe’enย together) be an adventure. “Friends,” she says at one point, “don’t let friends live small lives.”
Pumpkinheadsย is charming and adorable and the most fun, gentle read. As are most of Rowell’s stories. And like most of Rowell’s stories, it isn’tย just any of those things. There’s always more. And there’s a lot of heart and soul in this graphic novel. A lot of true things about friendship and relationships and what it means to leave people and places behind. And quite a lot of Autumn. This is probably the most Fall book I’ve ever read. I couldย feel it wrapped around me like a light sweater, could practically smell the crisp October air. Quite the feat considering I live in Puerto Rico, and have never actually come across a proper, Midwestern Fall.
All of this is beautifully conveyed by Faith Erin Hicks’s beautiful, beautiful artwork. She’s drawn up a gorgeous and warm, welcoming world into which I desperately want to jump.
Hicks deserves a lot of recognition in terms of the story, too. The book’s back matter includes a conversation between the authors which makes note of the fact that the script Hicks received from Rowell was more screenplay-like in nature, lacking a lot of the beat-by-beat description that is usually found in most comic book scripts, and it was up to her to break down the panels and figure out the pacing of the story. A job she did marvelously โ this is a fulfilling but very brisk read. (“There is a lot of skill,” Hicks says, “behind a ‘quick read.'”)
Hicks ends the same conversation with the following: “In the beginning, you’re trying to get to know them, who they are and how best to draw them so their personalities come through, visually. And by the time you’ve drawn the last page in their graphic novel, these characters are your best friends.” This is, of course, in reference to the drawing process, but it also perfectly encapsulates the experience of reading the story of these characters. You pretty much like Josie and Deja from the get-go, but youย loveย them by the end. And then you understand, quite perfectly, just why they are so loathe to say good bye to their pumpkin patch.
I loved this book.
