Willow Wilson began her writing career at the age of 17, when she freelanced as a music and DJ critic for Boston's
Weekly Dig magazine. Since then, she's written the Eisner Award-nominated comic book series
Air and
Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice and the graphic novel
Cairo. Her first novel,
Alif the Unseen, was a New York Times Notable book. It was shortlisted for the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan Award. G. Willow spent her early and mid twenties living in Egypt and working as a journalist. Her articles about the Middle East and modern Islam have appeared in the
New York Times Magazine, the
Atlantic Monthly and the
Canada National Post. Her memoir about life in Egypt during the waning years of the Mubarak regime,
The Butterfly Mosque, was named a Seattle Times Best Book of 2010.
Willow is published by
Grove/Atlantic Books in the United States and
Atlantic UK in the United Kingdom.
- (
Grand Central Pub)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Kamala Khan is a geeky 16-year-old Pakistani girl in Jersey City with fairly strict Muslim parents, and she is tired of feeling like a weirdo for eating unusual food and having to stay home most weekend nights. She sneaks out one evening to go to a party, but a strange fog rolls in and the Avengers appear before Kamala, speaking Urdu, and they grant her wish to be like Ms. Marvel—right down to the blonde hair and skimpy outfit. Kamala spends the next few days trying to master her new shape-shifting powers, and she struggles with how to appear. Should she abandon her brown skin and Pakistani features in order to be more recognizable as Ms. Marvel? She opts to look like herself, and after updating her burkini for a superflexible costume, she embraces the mantle of protector of Jersey City. Wilson's story touches on many issues bubbling up around comics today—diversity, gender, culture, sexuality—though never with a heavy hand. The story is the focus here, and together with Alphona's playful and stylish artwork, Wilson offers a superhero comic full to bursting with heart and charm. Kamala is a supremely likable and relatable hero, and teens will likely line up for more. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
