Space Boy Volume 2

Space Boy #2

by Stephen McCranie

A sci-fi drama of a high school aged girl who belongs in a different time, a boy possessed by emptiness as deep as space, an alien artifact, mysterious murder, and a love that crosses light years.

To Amy, everyone has a flavor. Jemmah, her best friend from the colony, is the flavor of pineapple and jalapeño. Cassie, from Earth, is like red pepper.

After being forced to leave her space-colony home when her dad was fired, Amy starts to adapt to a new life on Earth. High school seems difficult at first, but a close group of friends begin to make the transition easier for her.

At the same time, Amy finds herself fascinated with a mysterious boy named Oliver, the only person Amy has yet to be able to place a flavor for.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Comics, Fiction, Middle Grade, Graphic Novels Comics

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2018

About the author

Stephen McCranie has been drawing comics since before he could read or write. He graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Fine Arts and currently lives and works out of a small apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have I mentioned that this series is so much fun? Bc IT IS SO MUCH FUN.

[Whitney Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved learning more about Oliver! This is the best graphic novel series. It reads like middle grade but has such deep themes and engaging writing, even though it's a graphic novel. Love.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oliver: "Sometimes hope hurts too much to hold on to."

"I'm glad you exist."

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, I was patient with book 1 not having much titular Space or Boy in it, but now you are trying me, deceptively packaged story. So far the bulk of this could be rewritten without the sci-fi elements and you'd be left with essentially the same story about a girl going to a new school and adjusting to a slightly different culture (the difference mostly coming down to cell phone technology). To me that's a bit of a no-go. There was a single scene hinting at mysterious scientists doing something with/to the boy, but it felt like a tease to keep the reader intrigued rather than a natural plot development. Irritating.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still slow-paced, but still fairly engaging. Some progress was made in connecting the main character with the title character.

As for the art, it's a little odd how males get to have flat feet but females all walk around en pointe.

[Robin Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, strange comic series about a girl out of time and a boy unlike anyone else ... (10+)

*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first. Thank you!*

[Francina Simone]

I’m really enjoying this series. It’s very slow and more like a slice of life manga than anything else.

The art style is beautiful, the art has movement and the writing is good. Overall I’m very please and can’t wait until the next installment in March.

That said, I’d read these in one go, they’re not “loud” enough to keep me interested and waiting for 3/4 months at a time, but if I had all the issues and could read them over a week that would be best.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars!

LOVED this installment in the Space Boy series and I’m dying to know what Oliver’s flavour is. Actually, I’m dying to know more about Oliver - he is quite the mystery!

Full RTC

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy finally manages to talk to the white haired boy she noticed in the first volume of this delightful story of a girl, who is both out of place, and out of time.

And Oliver is a bit like her. He seems to be dislocated from life, and although Amy can sense a smell about everyone else, Oliver has no smell.

"Once I accepted the nothing, I felt nothing, and that was a form of freedom," he says.

One reviewer said it was a slow story, but if you are reading it as a race, yes, it might seem slow, but we are seeing everything through Amy's eyes, a life she has only seen in movies, and one she is still adapting to.

So, it doesn't bother me with Oliver's mystery not yet being solved. I know that the next volume will be even more fun.

[Isabel Hinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age: 12+
Genre: ya, coming of age, sci-fi
Content: squeaky clean!
Language: none

Review: Once again I loved this story!! I love graphic novels because they are a fast-paced read, but oftentimes the story can be lacking. However Space Boy definitely has a great plot with substantial build, and I'm pretty invested at this point! So wholesome and cute :) Read. this. series!!

[Ris Sasaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still cute

[Noah Litle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a little bit since I read this. I really need to keep up with my Goodreads better.
~
I really resonated with Oliver's view on hope. Looking forward to reading more of this series.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a little more than vol. 1, but I’m not really getting it. Although, to be fair, I’m not in the target audience.

[Sam Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book. I read it through in one sitting. :)

[Nore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was a book!

There's a bit of character development, a tiny bit of progress on the plot, and one rooftop adventure, but this wasn't a wild ride. I still look forward to the rest of the series, especially seeing Amy reconnect with her old friend from the colony.

[Ken Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not another high school drama. Amy's from space, she's sort of a timer traveler, and she has synthesia, giving every person she meets a unique "flavor". It's fun to see her discover Earth (albeit a slightly a bit into the future version).

This time around, she's got a foil in Oliver. I'm not sure what his deal is, but there's just enough of a mystery about him that has me intrigued. Also, they're both "new" to high school/Earth in a sense so they're both discovering things that the high school students around them take for granted.

It's a nice slice of life story with some futuristic fringes. Like, how does Amy's pigtails defy gravity like that? Crazy.

Edit:
Oh yeah, think there's a typo. "How about we met here again after school" probably should be "meet".

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Space Boy series. There are five books total in this series right now. I continue to enjoy this series.

Amy interacts a lot more with Oliver (Space Boy) in this book. We also learn some more background on Oliver, but even more mysteries are brought to light.

I really love the illustration style here and the bright colors. The story moved slower in this volume than the first one but I still found the mystery behind Oliver very intriguing. I also really enjoyed the characters.

Overall this is a graphic novel series that both me and my 12 year old son have really been enjoying. This volume moved a bit slower than the first, but the illustration, characters and mystery are all still very engaging.

[Simone Hagemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Den her serie bliver jo bare bedre og bedre. Jeg kan slet ikke vente med at læse næste volume! Både historien og illustrationerne er jo så fine.

[Mimi 'Pans' Herondale · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty slow book 👐

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very much happened in this book.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD. I cannot wait for book three to get to the local library!

[Izza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars | this series is super cute

[Alex]

‘Sometimes hope hurts too much to hold on to.’

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, atmospheric sci-fi series that manages to be poignant and intriguing at the same time.

The lead character Amy is extremely relatable, despite being essentially a teenager, because we're brought into her thought process. Seeing the world (literally, she's new to earth) through her eyes is a joy. And there's something special about the way that the sci-fi slice-of-life elements of the future are presented in such a matter-of-fact-this-is-how-life-is-now way (for example, augmented reality becoming so commonplace).

This volume built on the last and layers in some mystery, some relationship dynamics (including the tender depiction of Amy's family interactions), and even some philosophical quandaries. I love it and can't wait to devour the next one where I'm sure the plot will inevitably thicken.

The art is deceptive - at first, I found it overly simple but then I saw how much emotion they were able to convey, and how on-point the pacing is. It feels like a cinematic work of art I'd watch at a film festival, where the director knows exactly what they are doing with each shot.

For those who like the pace and emotion of this piece, I would recommend "The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún" - a manga series by Nagabe.

Also one last potential spoiler/hypothesis about where we're going in the story: I picked this book up to try to break my seemingly endless "reading stories about robots" phase and gosh darn it, I'm pretty sure Oliver is a @#$%^^# robot. I will report back after volume 3.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Space Boy volume was pretty light on the titular "space boy," so it's nice to see Space Boy Vol 2 take a bigger swing at that character. We get some intriguing growth and backstory for him, and we see plenty of Amy's curious attraction to him. It's all smartly rendered - Stephen McCranie has a knack for drawing real feelings and emotions from his teenage characters. Space Boy Vol 2 is also smartly rendered in the artistic sense. I simply can't praise McCranie's style enough, it's absolutely unique. Even the lettering is appealing. The only downfall to this volume is the abrupt ending. Not even a cliffhanger, it seems to end mid-scene.

[D]

Thematically McCranie is using literal sci-fi strangeness to explore teen feelings of alienation/existential angst. I might like this better if I hadn't grown up reading Madeleine L'Engle, Alexander Key, William Sleator, and others; by contrast it just feels too straightforward for me. McCranie excels at depicting nuances of emotional reaction and very clear action – I was never confused by a panel, which I can't say of many graphic novels. But I was disconcerted by how un-filled-in the setting felt. I guess it's supposed to feel timeless/universal, but for me it felt almost like the minimalism of a stage set – a bit of an odd choice for a story with space stations and weird science.

[Matthew Gasperoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing to enjoy reading something completely different from my usual choices! The art is fun, the colors are great, and the storyline is pretty captivating so far. I also like the random tech talk and outer space discussions. (I’m removing the read date to not count toward my reading goals, but for the record, I read this in 2024.)

[Kayla (onthefritz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm glad you exist."

oooo I love Amy & Oliver! This one mostly just has their interactions, nothing but a sprinkle of "whaaaat is going on???" in this volume.

Is Oliver a robot?? Or an alien?? I think he's a robot...

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series and I really like the art. This book picks up immediately after the ending of the first book. We follow Amy trying to get comfortable to Earth and having more dealings with Space Boy. Solid one and I look forward to reading more from this series.