I GET LOUD

An unusual, climate-steeped sequel to I Go Quiet (2020).

A young child tells, in first person, of their experience making a new friend when two kites meet high up in the sky. The two children then travel to a different home, in what may possibly be a climate-induced migration, where the friends are separated briefly and then reunited. The child’s friend does not speak; rather they are a peaceful companion and co-adventurer and then a welcome face amid unfamiliar surroundings. However, the deeper meanings of this story seem cryptic. Where Ouimet’s first book was fairly straightforward and linear, this text is more nuanced and obtuse, likely requiring scaffolding by an adult during the telling. Moreover, while it seems the residents of the city become refugees, their new city so resembles the first as to belie the journey itself and its significant turmoil. Illustrations range from a dramatic fish-eye effect to sharp, diagonal lines and dramatic weather changes that fill the page. Joining earth tones with deep jeweled hues of purple and blue, the artwork recalls aspects of Chris Van Allsburg and Shaun Tan; in fact, Tan’s The Arrival (2007) seems an apt pairing. Two spreads of small, black-and-white panels offer a graphic-novel approach to the telling of the grimmer moments in this unusual story.

Visually compelling; narratively obscure.