He has his own dangerous secrets, but he has promised to help Tabby get home. While Tabby searches for the truth surrounding her father's death, she meets a handsome blue-haired boy named Philip. She is unexpectedly led to Rema, a distant world of magic and beauty that is periodically invaded by a nearby planet desperate for resources.

The manga-inspired artwork, with full colour illustrations, is incredibly beautiful and detailed complementing the mood and emotion of the narrative perfectly.Enter the rich and fantastical world of Rema in the first instalment of this middle-grade graphic novel series with sweeping adventure and light romance! Tabby Simon is determined to learn what happened to her father, who was found dead after researching a tree that leaks a mysterious mist in her neighbourhood. She finds herself pulled from a world where she feels alone into one where she finds friendship and, dare I say it, a dash of romance!

Tabby is a wonderful character: curious, determined and courageous. I really enjoyed that this world-building was interspersed with plenty of fast-paced action, incredible revelations and character development. I really liked how the adventure is written in four distinct parts: Haunted, Geist, The Priestess and The Ghost which gave me a fascinating insight into this richly imagined world, and introduced me to the creation of the world, its political and religious systems, and both external and internal divisions. Will Tabby be able to find her way home, or does she have a greater destiny to fulfil? What secrets is Philip hiding, and could they lead to danger for them both? So begins a thrilling, action-packed and explosive adventure as Tabby finds herself learning more about this magical, breath-taking world, a world that is filled with both wonder and peril. Philip tells her that she is no longer on earth, but promises to help her return home. Drawn again to the tree by a strange light, Tabby finds herself unexpectedly pulled through a portal into another world, Rema, where she meets the stranger again. When visiting her sanctuary, the tree, she sees a stranger with blue hair but, when she tries to speak to him, he disappears. Tabby does not believe this and is determined to discover the truth behind her father’s death. Tabby Simon is a loner who spends her time lying under a tree that leaks a mysterious mist, a tree which has been labelled as a biohazard, and blamed for the death of her scientist father seven years before. The Rema Chronicles: Realm of the Blue Mist is the first in an enthralling new graphic novel fantasy series and, oh my goodness, it is breathtakingly stunning and completely entranced me from start to finish. Written and Illustrated by Amy Kim Kibuishi

Realm of the blue mist