A great origin story for my favorite superhero Wonder Woman! I enjoyed the story and the art and am looking forward to more issues in the future.

I was really excited to read this book. Laurie Halse Anderson is an amazing storyteller and does a superb job with this story. Imagining a young Diana, Anderson makes the character a relatable young girl who just happens to be an Amazon. She becomes a refugee and makes way to the United States, where she is befriended and learns a lot about the outside world. Themes of refugee life, citizenship, and crimes of child trafficking are addressed to make this an engaging and meaningful story. My biggest concern with the story was the reimagining of Steve Trevor into two separate people. It was an unnecessary step away from the history of Wonder Woman. My other concern was with the depiction of the US flag in the artwork. All of the vertical hanging US flags are incorrect. The stars are always in the top left corner, whether hanging vertically or horizontal. It's disrespectful to have them shown as they are depicted. If these two things were different, this would undoubtedly be a 5-star book.

Laurie Halse Anderson brings new meaning to an iconic character in Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, a new young adult graphic novel from DC Comics. Diana is a fiercely empathetic young warrior whose physical might pales in comparison to the strength of her heart. Confronting systemic poverty, war, the refugee experience, xenophobia, and child-trafficking, the story is one of a teenage superhero turned devoted activist, with Diana’s fight against injustice serving as a poignant rallying cry for readers. Leila Del Duca’s illustrations pack a powerful punch, with more than one breathtaking double-page spread and a beautifully fearsome rendition of Diana herself. Action-packed and visually stunning, Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is the compelling and timely next chapter in the evolution of this legendary hero.

I received an advanced copy of Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed from Netgalley, so that I could share my review with you!

Trigger Warnings- this book contains several scenes involving child trafficking.

All Diana wants for her 16th birthday is to finally feel like a real Amazon. For so long, she has been the “changeling” and she’s desperately tired of feeling like the only misfit on an island of perfect warrior women. When her birthday finally arrives, however, chaos strikes the island of Themyscira, caused by the turmoil occurring in the outside world. Unable to resist the urge to help, Diana leaves the protective barrier of the island, but finds herself trapped on the outside with no way home. Soon Diana witnesses firsthand some of the hardships that are plaguing the world, and she has to figure out both how she can fit in and how she can help out.

You can get your copy of Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed on June 2nd from DC Comics!

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is a poignant graphic novel about the refugee experience and the power of teenage activism. Laurie Halse Anderson has written a story that speaks to the very soul of the classic Wonder Woman tale, demonstrating the strength that can be found through compassion and willingness to stand out. I adored the illustrative style of Leila del Duca which easily transports readers into Diana’s world. The story and art complement each other wonderfully, making this graphic novel an experience you won’t want to miss!

My Recommendation-
If you have been searching for a hard-hitting story about found family and self-discovery, Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed would be a great choice for your next read! This was a very quick read for me, because of the enthralling storyline! Because it is a standalone graphic novel, Tempest Tossed will be a worthwhile read, regardless of whether or not you’ve read a Wonder Woman story in the past!

This book was engaging and entertaining to read. I enjoyed the storyline and the artwork which accompanied it. This is not my typical style of book, but I found myself immersed in the story after just a few minutes.

I’m a fan of superhero graphic novels and comics, especially female ones. I think Laurie Halse Anderson did a good job telling the story of how Diana ended up on the U.S. and how difficult it was for her to adjust. Hand to readers who already like superheroes, or those who like graphic novels with a bit of action.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I went into this one, but I definitely was not expecting that ending. Out of all the Wonder Woman graphic novels I’ve read, this was one of the better ones. However, I couldn’t reconcile the ending. It didn’t make sense that Diana would so quickly abandon her family and that neither she nor her family looked for one another. I also don’t think her loss of power was explained to my recollection.
Despite all this, Anderson portrays Diana as the strong and independent woman I know from the movie I loved. Diana cares fiercely for the refugees and homeless she meets and that’s so refreshing and nice to see!

Princess Diana of Themyscira is the celebrated child of the gods on her home island. She believes everything will change for the better on her sixteenth birthday. However, her celebration is cut short when rafts with dying refugees break through the barrier that hides their island from the outside world. Though told by the Amazons to stay away, Diana quickly runs down to the beach to try and rescue the outsiders but it swept out to sea and unable to reenter her island. Diana becomes a refugee and travels through the difficult process of trying to find her identity when she has nothing. She comforts others and tries to find joy where she can. She encounters a man named Steve Trevor and his partner as part of their rescue organization. Though them, she comes to the United States.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed has a lot to unpack. Laurie Halse Anderson takes familiar characters and puts them into one of the most difficult positions for any person in our modern world. As Diana witnesses countless injustices, she has to fight not just the evil around her, but her very own fears.  While Diana meets Steve Trevor in this book, he most definitely is not a love interest. He's older and married to another man. The two fight for the rights of refugees and to help make the world a better place.  The art by Leila del Duca is absolutely gorgeous and truly brings home the fears and misunderstandings that come along with not being able to speak a new language, not understanding local customs, and being utterly terrified in a new place.

I really enjoyed this! I am huge Wonder Woman fan and was so excited to have this chance to experience this graphic novel. Within the last year, I have started to get more into comics and this one really helped with that fix! The artwork is incredible and the story went along with it beautifully put together! Huge thanks to NetGalley DC Comics for this opportunity!

Amazing. Truly amazing new origin story for Diana set in modern times with Diana as a teen. I literally cannot wait to share this with students and teachers and promote it. I wish I could hand out copies on street corners. The end left me crying and hopeful, which quite frankly, in the middle of a global pandemic, I needed.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. An huge thanks to DC Comics for this free copy.

TW: children exploitation, harassment, kidnapping, mention of rape and sexual abuse, human trafficking.

Princess Diana of Themyscira always felt different and alienated from the Amazons in her island home and she hopes her sixteen birthday will change everything and she will finally feel part of the warrior tribe. But when rafts with refugees break the barrier around her Themyscira, Diana defies her tribe to save and bring them to safety. But she's carried away by the sea, finding herself in the modern world.
Stranded in a unfamiliar and dangerous world, away for the first time from her family, traditions and Goddesses, Diana is forced to adapt and learn her place, finding new friends, a found family and discovering the dangers of the modern world. Dangers she's more than ready to fight against.

I fell in love with the artwork of Leila del Duca and the beautiful and current plot of Laurie Helse Anderson that reivent Wonder Woman's origin, putting Diana Prince first in a refugee camp and then in the frontline against abuse, sexual violence, children exploitation and refugees' experiences and rights.

The characterization is brilliant. Diana is the only person who was born on Themyscira, the only one with a birthday and that and other changes (we could call them puberty) separate her from the Amazons. She feels like an outsider and she's eager to belong and to prove the Amazons she's like them.
The reader can feel her desire, her wanting to be really part of the Amazons tribe in her own island, to find her place and when she's, literally, swept away from everything that was familiar to her, Diana is a character able to find her own way, place and strength, to adapt and overcome the difficulties.
She's surrounded by strong characters, like Steven and Trevor and Henke and Raissa and her friendship with them helps Diana feel with a purpose and a place, above all when she's involved in the activism. Even if she will never stop looking a way for getting back home, Diana is ready to fight against injustices.

Diana's journey is intertwined with important social and political issues. Swept away by the sea and living in a refugees camp, Diana is able to see the disastrous conditions people are forced to live in, the injustices against them, the awful sanitary conditions.
When her ability of talk, understand and translate multiple language (thanks to her upbringing in Themyscira) catches the attention of Trevor and Steve (a cute gay couple, both involved in the refugees situation, working at the United Nations), they decide to help her get a Visa and a place to stay in New York with their friend, a Polish immigrant names Henke and her granddaughter Raissa.
Involved in their activism, helping families and children, in New York Diana has to face the reality of homelessness, street harassments and the refugees' situations and the danger of human greed and evil.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is a wonderful and intense graphic novel about finding one's strength and place in the world, a found family, love and friendship.

I admittedly do not know much about Wonder Woman or the DC Universe, so I have no insight into how this fits the cannon or history of the character. I do know that I loved this Wonder Woman origins story. The story itself is well developed and she is a likable underdog in the Amazonian society.

Diana (Wonder Woman) is the only Amazonian who was born on the island and grew up from childhood to adulthood. She is somewhat of a medical mystery to her people and was actually quite sickly, especially when compared to athletic prowess of the Amazons. This story illustrates that and then her choice to save stranded people who shipwrecked near her island. This choice led to her being unable to return home and coming to live amongst a group of refugees. From there, it is a story of Diana trying to find her place in a world she doesn't belong in and doesn't understand.

The writing was lovely. The illustrations are beautiful. The story arc leaves room for a next book or to continue her story, but it is also perfectly fine on its own.

Hmmm… Since the first stories to feature Wonder Woman, it's always had a little bit of liberal politics about it. She was designed to be both eye candy and a corrective against the muscle-men of comics, and to show how girls can have the world at their feet, too. Often we saw an origin story (and if Diana is not the comics character to have the most origin stories I'd be surprised) that showed her seeing the world through virginal eyes, and finding out how wondrously different our existence is to that back on Themyscira. But this book doesn't fit that pattern. For every time it would normally show a lesson, a point, a difference to Diana/Wonder Woman, here it tries to show a lesson to us. And as a result, it's not only the most haranguing, liberal tract, but it kills off every element of the fantastical about this franchise.

Diana is trying to have the birthday she wants, full of training in warrior ways, and helping unfledged chicks back to the nest, but our world is not going to allow that. The barrier keeping her island and the world of the Amazons secret is breaking, because we're filling our world with too much grief and the Mediterranean with too many refugee boat people, and the balance is faltering. In saving some young families from drowning, Diana (freshly given the tiara, gauntlets and lasso) leaves her home world for ours, and ends up in a migrant camp. From there two guys (in a gay marriage, of course) whisk her off to New York, where she lives with an elderly Polish immigrant and her sullen granddaughter. And the neighbourhood is full of everything we might recognise from modern, liberal plaints – the wrong kind of housing, homeless, food charities – oh, and the Child Snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The problem with this is the lack of entertainment all this provides. Instead we're bludgeoned with moral lessons in left-wing politics, and it was little surprise to see the leads wear sloganeering hoodies before the end, as if we'd not had enough by then. This is so over-simplified and naive – the only straight white male is the baddie, the people Diana has to help are just as much an alien to the USA as she is – heck, even the richly besuited UN diplomats who rescue her fly coach. Now, I'll not sound very convincing at all if I said I liked the politics on offer here, but I should hopefully sound more sensible when I declare this is just wrong. We as this book's audience are being used – as receivers of a certain social-political lesson – and not given nearly enough fun in return. But more importantly, in putting this content in the Wonder Woman fabric, Diana is also being used. She's hardly able to show any powers in this, yet another origin story, and even with her naivety writ large is not the most naive thing about it. Having the world at your feet should never make you look so belittled. One and a half stars.

Wonder Woman's origin stories are always at the top of my TBR stack. This one is a complete treat. I read it in little bits every night to stretch it out. Diana is thrust into the outside world and rises to the challenge of leaving the Utopia of the Amazons for our very challenged civilization as you'd hope she would. Happy sigh. The story includes a diverse cast, beautiful artwork, and I am ordering a paperback copy for our shelves- even though I was gifted an electronic copy to review. Five stars!

Laurie Halse Anderson moves from the world of young adult novels into a graphic novel adaptation seamlessly. This story of strength and identity is worth the read in narrative or visual form.

I was nervous going into this because I don't have that much experience with graphic novels or comics, and I've never found one I truly love. I can't stay that's changed, but this iteration of Wonder Woman brought to life by Laurie Halse Anderson and Leila del Luca have moved me in that direction. Anderson's words are both empowering and regretful as she showcases Diana's journey outside of Themescyra and into the unknown.. Del Luca's art elevates Diana's emotions that Anderson expertly portrays. I really enjoyed the story, but I still felt a disconnect with the characters and setting that graphic novels haven't managed to breach quite yet,

Rating: 5/5 donated sandwiches

Format: ebook. I’d like to thank Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To sum up:
This is a retelling of the Wonder Woman origin story by Laurie Halse Anderson, the writer of SPEAK (now also a graphic novel!). Although the beginning of this story felt very familiar, Anderson brings a sensitivity and call to action that feels new and full of hope. I will admit, I haven’t read the original DC Justice comics, but I have absorbed a lot from pop culture and I loved the 2017 Wonder Woman film adaption. This story starts off with Diana as a girl just about to turn 16 amongst a community of Amazonian women on the hidden island of Themyscira. She is an outsider to this community however because she is the only one not born into womanhood as an Amazonian warrior, and actually thinks of herself as a <i>changeling</i>, or someone of “human-like” identity. In this community, it is her “human” half that sets her apart however because Amazonians are fierce, powerful, and extraordinary warriors; whereas Diana at first glance appears to be an ordinary human teenager with pimples, armpit hair, and a period.

On her birthday, Diana attempts to save some humans at the magical border of her island and suddenly finds herself on the <i>outside</i>, in the real world for the first time. The rest of this first installment follows Diana as she navigates the struggles of being a refugee as she tries to find her identity, purpose, friendship, and her way back home.

What I loved:
I’ve always been drawn to the character of Wonder Woman because of her earnest sincerity to help others. Because she has been sheltered her whole life up to this point in a beautiful utopia, she has this naive but beautiful idea of how the world should be. It is so cool to see her dropped into a world where a lot of us have become desensitized to homelessness and poverty and see her stop and not only take notice but put in a real effort to help people in need. She looks at the world and sees how it could be made better.

Diana in this version of WW is just the same. Her courage in the face of adversity is inspiring and her curiosity about the world is infectious to all around her. She is introduced to the world outside during war and turmoil in the middle east and is brought into Greece as a refugee. She then finds her way to Queens, New York, where she stays with a Polish family and meets a parkour enthusiast and community activist teen her own age. Seeing life as a refugee and immigrant through Diana’s eyes is heartbreaking. Every step of the way, she is asking why is this world so broken? Why are there so many without? But in this world, she also finds friendship, community, and a loving host family that shows her how to give back and support her community.

I loved that this version of Wonder Woman takes on the important themes of diversity and immigrant life in our culture, the current weaknesses of our social services programs, and the adversity faced by those that are homeless, impoverished, or just in need. I also loved the theme of friendship in this story and their interest in social activism. I am definitely interested in reading more.


Who I'd recommend it to:
Fans of DC Comics and Wonder Woman stories, social activism, and fans of Laurie Halse Anderson.

A fresh reimagining of Wonder Woman’s origin story.

** Trigger warning for violence against women and children, including street harassment, human trafficking, and allusions to rape. **

Princess Diana’s sixteenth Born Day party is well underway when the barrier guarding Themyscira from the human world ruptures, allowing several rafts filled with scared refugees ashore. In keeping with the Five Mothers’ decree, Queen Hippolyta is content to care for those who make it to shore, nursing them to health, only to send them back into the world they fled – after administering a forgetting serum, of course. But further Amazonian intervention is prohibited until the mysterious “Great Evil of the Universe” returns.

So when a raft packed with men, women, and children threatens to capsize at sea, Diana rushes to their aid. Though she’s still coming into her powers, this Changeling-Amazon is plenty strong enough to pull the raft to Themyscira … that is, if the barrier didn’t do such an excellent job of shielding it from the outside world, which is where Diana now finds herself.

Along with her comrades, Diana eventually winds up in an immigration camp in Greece, where her ability to speak literally every language makes her an emissary of sorts. She quickly catches the eyes of Steve and Trevor Chang (side note: I love love love the recasting of Steve Trevor as a gay couple!), who use their UN connections to get Diana a U.S. student visa and temporary housing in NYC.

Diana becomes fast friends with her pseudo guardian, Henke, but Henke’s granddaughter Raissa proves harder to win over. Diana loves helping Raissa in her volunteer work – providing free lunches to kids during the summer months, and tending to the community’s green spaces – even if it introduces her to some of the harsher realities of life in the human world: street harassment, homelessness, corporate greed, human trafficking, and sexual violence. When one of her young friends goes missing, it’s time for Diana to break out the lasso of truth and get to superheroing.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love DC’s YA imprint, because it makes a nice entry point for relative newbies like myself. But Wonder Woman is a bit of an exception, both for me and as a whole: I’m already familiar with some of DC’s Wonder Woman titles (most notably the New 52), and she’s such a huge part of popular culture, that I don’t think you can help but have some passing knowledge of her mythos. That’s not to say I don’t love and adore WONDER WOMAN: TEMPEST TOSSED – just for slightly different reasons.

For starters, there’s the storytelling; it’s lovely and urgent and exactly what you’d expect from Laurie Halse Anderson. In keeping with the progressive bent of DC’s YA titles, WONDER WOMAN: TEMPEST TOSSED gives Wonder Woman’s origin story a fresh spin that incorporates a number of pressing contemporary social issues. Chief among them is the plight of immigrants and refugees, a group that includes Wonder Woman herself. Cut off from her homeland, unable to return, Diana is a young woman without a country or family…at least not one that exists in this world. She’s special, sure, but also one of millions: just one face in the huddled masses. Absent her warrior tribe, Diana must learn how best to harness her powers to help lift up others.

The theme of alienation also hangs heavy: as the only child born on Themyscira, Diana isn’t like her Amazon sisters. She’s (comparatively) weak, frail, and prone to mood swings and inexplicable crying fits. Her body frequently betrays her. She’s a (shudder) teenager – on an island filled with ageless, immortal warrior women. The indignity of it all! But if she feels like she doesn’t quite fit in on Themyscira, Diana is truly out of her element in Greece and NYC, where capitalism is a death cult that reigns supreme.

I really enjoyed watching Diana Prince adapt to her new life, making friends, mastering parkour, and beating on street harassers. Raissa and Henke are interesting characters as well, but mostly take a backseat to a young Wonder Woman (as does almost everyone, or so one must assume).

The ending is a little improbable, in that the two big bad plotlines converge so neatly, and yet. Maybe it’s no so outlandish after all. The one percenters have all but become cartoon villains these days.

The artwork is lovely, and I especially loved those scenes set on Themyscira. (Hippolyta & Co., living the dream. Although the scene where she kicked a refugee in the face was unexpectedly harsh and dark. I wonder if we’ll get some backstory there?)

And the final pages, where Diana and her new family celebrate Henke’s boyfriend’s naturalization? TEARS.

Laurie Halse Anderson puts her keen eye for emotional depth and understanding of what it's like being a teenager grappling with a difficult world to work in this first contact story with a young Wonderwoman. The optimism and logic that Diana tries to approach the heavy themes of refugee settlements, human trafficking, and child hunger makes them approachable for younger readers. Middle school grades and up will enjoy this social justice packed story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Laurie Halse Anderson, and DC Entertainment for the opportunity to read Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, I really wanted to read this because I greatly admire Laurie Halse Anderson as a writer, and I was not disappointed.

This comic reimagines the origin story of Wonder Woman, known as Diana. While some of the beginning is similar--an exclusive island of all females, Amazons, hidden by a barrier from the rest of the world--the twist this takes highlights very serious and real issues in the world today.

This volume contains some historical elements as well as exploring issues such as human trafficking, homelessness, war, and immigration. I found the way this was written to be quite educational and appreciated the course our sixteen-year-old protagonist went in this new Wonder Woman beginning. This book also explores important topics to a teenage audience, such as family, friendship, and finding one's place in the world.

Also, the art is pretty darn amazing.

This is a lovely fresh start!