Terry Blas

Jackie Chavez loves to go to her local theme park—Kingdom Adventure— and is disappointed to learn from her aunt that they will not be able to afford season passes this summer. Kingdom Adventure is where all Jackie’s best memories are, and it’s where she feels safe and happy. This carries even more weight now that Jackie’s parents have been deported and forced to go back to Mexico, leaving Jackie in the United States with her Tía Gina. Jackie and her friends hatch a plot to bring seniors from Valley Care Living to the park using a fake volunteer program, with the hopes that one of the residents will croak during their visit. The ruse quickly gets its first volunteer—a feisty resident named Phyllis.

This graphic novel is dark and twisted – where teens cynically take senior citizens to a theme park hoping one will die so the park management will give them lifetime passes to smooth things over. Some have called it dark humor; however, I don’t find it humorous at all, just dark. Also, I like to find at least one character that I like or sets a higher standard, but there isn’t one in this book. While Jackie and Phyllis develop a friendship, the other characters are stereotypes of bad teenage behavior.

The positive parts of the book (diverse cast of characters and great art) are nearly canceled by the awful premise (4 teens taking senior citizens to an amusement park in hopes they will die so the kids can secure lifetime passes?!?!?!).
… (meer)