I enjoyed this a lot, and learned quite a bit! I admit I haven't read anything about Mme. Curie since I was the right age for this graphic novel, and I'd forgotten the extent of her awesomeness. From her childhood in Poland to her scientific career in Paris and beyond, the text gives us the hard-to-put-down story of Mme. Curie's life, and the gorgeous collage art compliments the text so well! This one's a keeper!

#MarieCurieAQuestForLight #NetGalley

This book is a great find. The graphic novel format will appeal to a wide range of readers. The story of Marie Curie will appeal to a range of readers as well with her siblings picking on her, being different, having a sick parent, being interested in science, etc. Kids are sure to find something to relate to, as well as something they don't relate to, and therefore can grow with some sympathy and empathy connections. There are also a lot of relevant and interesting facts brought up about the place and time period that will inform readers as well as possibly leading them to more questions and stoking their curiosity. Excited to purchase this for the library.

This graphic novel is well researched and informative with an interesting illustration style. The illustrations are beautiful and somewhat abstract in design but very effective in telling the story. I particularly like the inclusion of original documents and use of sections of Marie, Pierre and their family’s correspondence. The writing is factual though there are a few times that it seemed to be missing some continuity but this could have been a limitation of the way I was viewing it on my computer. Marie Curie is one of my scientific heroes and I would have loved to have this when I was younger.

A most welcome biography of Marie Curie, that starts right from her Warsaw childhood and takes in all the expected beats. Warsaw then was just a few years away from being under the Russian Czar's thumb, meaning the young woman had to go to school and learn in Russian. Her mother was often ill, she lost her oldest sister, life was hard etc. I'd prefer not to summarise, for the benefits of this all-ages book (well, certainly secondary school and up) is that the text gets it all boiled down to the bare bones, without dressing, frivolity and unnecessary detail.

The artwork is a different kettle of fish, however. It's done in a very European-seeming collage style (and surprise, surprise, it's a Polish lass who's to credit), often playing a bit loose with the framing and perspective of routine graphic novels, and doing a different thing to them anyway. The visuals hardly ever dramatise things – yes, they show her and her school-mates spitting on a monument they find objectionable, but they generally symbolise things. The school inspector's visit, as he tries to check how Russified the academy Curie went to is, sees the human figure become a monstrous pig, and a potential mother-in-law does similar later. Someone's death is, well, I'm not sure what it is – it's suitably unpretty.

This reduction of it all, that means a lot of leg-work for feel, mood and character is done by the visuals, with the text mainly speaking to us in headlines and barely allowing for dialogue between the characters, is not going to be to the taste of all. But I liked it – it's only supposed to be a brief introduction, not a primer as such but something perfectly valid in a school library. The visuals, if you get the taste for them, will also allow this to sit on the home shelf as well, especially if you like graphic biographies or this one's subjects. For me, well, four stars might have a bit of a generous feel, but I think it's the closest I can get.