Mooncakes
Wendy Xu (Illustrator) and Suzanne Walker (Author)
October 22,2019 Oni Press
243 pages
Review by E. Borderick
It has been very difficult for me to create recently. Like many creatives, I have periods where art (in my case, words) flows like water, and other times where writing is like extracting moisture from a dessert. During those fallow periods I find it helpful to take the age old advice and “refill the well,” but not in the way that many people use this phrase. I’m not actively running around participating in exciting activities, reading new and experimental styles, or picking up skills by enrolling in classes. While those things are great, what I need is a fuzzy blanket book. You know the type. The book that feels like it is wrapping me in a snuggle, keeping me safe and warm. I have several of these much loved tomes, and one of them is the graphic novel Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu.
The book follows a Jewish witch named Nova, who is living with her grandmothers instead of taking a traditional witch apprenticeship. Nova’s parents died some years ago and she’s really just needed the comforts of home. But when her old childhood friend Tam, a nonbinary werewolf, comes back to town, Nova is thrust into an adventure she had not necessarily been seeking.
Tam has always missed Nova, and the sparks fly as soon as these two reconnect, but Tam’s stepfather has been making their life miserable for some time now. Tam’s childhood was tumultuous and destabilizing and they are now struggling to escape a cult seeking to use their werewolf magic for nefarious purposes. Worse? The stepfather has been in on it this whole time. Tam has not had much love in life, or other people to rely on, and they finally find that support and caring with Nova and her grandmothers.
Love and compassion for each other, no matter what, are themes that shine off these pages. It is clear that the authors placed a great deal of thought into each word and graphic. The result is a book that heals the spirit. From the way the villains correctly gender Tam, because even despicable people trying to sacrifice another human should be capable of using they/them pronouns, to Nova’s family eating mooncakes in the Sukkah, every page is full of sources of joy and inclusion. The romance is swoony, the adventure exciting but not too scary, and the narrative choices full of kindness to the reader. These was a moment I was concerned we were heading towards a weird love triangle or discrimination against witches scenario with Nova’s scientist best friend but it did not happen. In fact, the exact opposite occurred. I should have known better than to be concerned. I was in safe hands the entire time.
Sometimes a reader just needs to feel safe and secure and loved in order to fully enjoy a book. Those feelings are abundant in Mooncakes. Which is why it sometimes helps me find inspiration when I am no longer in love with my work, or maybe even myself. Tam learns that we are all worthy, and Nova finds a way to move on. This reader learned those things too, and I’m better for it.