Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2023
248 pages
Genre: Graphic Novels
Paperback Original.
Publication Information
Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it's everything you'd ever want to read in a graphic novel.
It's 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills...it's there to be found.
Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They're determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.
Cheng-Kwan – doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect "son" to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.
Mattie and Emma — Choctaw and Black — the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.
And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She'll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.
"Via cinematic paneling, careful attention to detail, and a sprawling cast portrayed with varying abilities, body types, and skin tones, DuVall (The Bridge, for adults) depicts pulse-pounding broom races and comforting domestic sequences...Walls (Vixen NYC, for adults) presents an evocative Fast and the Furious–flavored graphic novel." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A fast-paced race to a satisfying, winning end." —Kirkus Reviews
"A sweet, entertaining found-family story that weaves magic with historical injustice; recommended for teen graphic novel shelves." —School Library Journal
"This is the queer, magical, broom-racing version of A League of Their Own that I didn't know I was missing… The representation in this graphic novel is so diverse and among the best I think I've ever seen. It's clear that Walls and Duvall put equal parts passion and research into this beautiful story. If you don't read it, you're missing out." —Book Riot
This information about Brooms was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jasmine Walls is a writer, artist, and editor with former lives in professional baking and teaching martial arts. She still bakes (though she's pretty rusty at martial arts) and has a deep love for storytelling, creating worlds, and building tales about the characters who inhabit them. Along with Levine Querido, she has works published with Boom! Studios, Capstone, Oni Press, The Atlantic, and The Nib. She lives in California with two dogs and a large stash of quality hot chocolate.
Teo DuVall is a queer Chicanx comic artist and illustrator based in Seattle, WA. They graduated in 2015 with a BFA in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts and have had the immense pleasure of working with Levine Querido, HarperCollins, Dark Horse, Chronicle Books, Scholastic and more. He has a passion for fantasy, aesthetic ghost stories, and witches of color, and loves being able to create stories for a living. Teo lives with his partner, their two pets -- a giant, cuddly pit-bull, and a tiny, ferocious cat -- and a small horde of houseplants.
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