Snot Girl: Vol. 1: Green Hair Don't Care

Gr 9 Up—A fabulous, if slightly gross, first foray into single-issue comics for indie comics veteran O'Malley (of "Scott Pilgrim" fame). Snot Girl is Lottie Person, a green-haired, allergy-prone fashion blogger who floats between her less-than-pleasant real life and a sparkly, stylish, Instagram-filtered dream. Adding to the cognitive dissonance are an increasingly strange series of encounters. There's a gruesome incident in a club bathroom…or is there? Lottie has a stalker…or does she? O'Malley builds anticipation and heightens tension in these first five issues—each apparent explanation only deepens the mystery of Snot Girl's increasingly dark reality. Though the tension between reality and Lottie's online persona, which drives the story, needs further exploration, Hung's simultaneously sexy, sweet, slimy, and occasionally sinister illustrations, heavy with character close-ups and dramatic stares, are compelling. The hard-hitting world of fashion bloggers involves a moderate amount of sex, substance use, and salty language, making this selection best for mature teens.