After finishing A Court of Mist and Fury, I was in the mood for a bit of a break before tackling the next book in that series. I decided to go with The Golden Hour by Niki Smith, a middle grades graphic novel that I discovered while shopping on Amazon. I was initially drawn to the cover art, and the summary on the back promising a coming-of-age story in the wake of an incident of gun violence sealed the deal. I settled in for what I hoped would be a poignant and moving read.
The plot of the novel follows a middle school student named Manuel. He witnesses an incident of gun violence at his school, and as the novel begins, he is still very much trying to process it. He struggles with panic attacks and PTSD, but is learning to work his way through his feelings using photography. Upon returning to school from spring break, he is partnered up with two other kids in his art class, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project. The trio quickly become good friends and start hanging out outside of school.
They usually spend time at Sebastian's house, because he lives on a big farm with lots of wide open spaces and animals to play with. Manuel comes to enjoy photographing the scenery there, especially Sebastian's new calf, Daisy. They start participating in an agricultural club and work on projects for the county fair. Along the way, Manuel slowly starts to come out of his shell and begin healing from the trauma he experienced. He even begins to develop feelings for Sebastian that go beyond friendship. The Golden Hour is a sweet story about healing, growing up, friendship, and first love in our modern times.
This was a really sweet little novel, and I enjoyed reading it. I thought that Smith did a good job of making a difficult story involving gun violence and PTSD appropriate for a young audience. She doesn't linger on the violent details and focuses more on the growth and healing in the aftermath of the experience. Manuel was a relatable character and easy to root for throughout the story, and Sebastian and Caysha were both charming and very supportive friends.
The illustrations were very pretty as well, with a lot of golden light filling many of the panels. The title refers to that time of day right after sunrise or before sunset, when the light takes on a reddish hue, and a lot of the pictures show that time beautifully. Smith uses a strategy of shifting to black and white images when Manuel is having a panic attack, and that technique dose a nice job of making those moments feel appropriately harrowing. The art was a pleasure to look at overall, and added to the tenderness of the story.
The only bit of the story that I wished was explored more was the relationship between Manuel and Sebastian. This novel is typically tagged as LGBT, and the pair are definitely interested in each other, but their relationship is conveyed so subtly that I do not think young readers would pick up on anything more than friendship between them. They do (maybe) kiss at the very end, but the image is drawn from so far away that you wouldn't even notice it unless you were really looking vey closely at it. I understand that romance wasn't the main focus of the story, but "first love" is listed as one of the themes included on the back cover, and that aspect of the story is very easily entirely missed if you aren't paying close enough attention. Middle grades readers that identify as being straight will probably not pick up on it at all. I felt like if first love was supposed to be a part of the story, Smith could have dedicated a bit more time to it.
Other than that though, I thought this was a lovely read and a wonderful addition to my classroom library. It's a quiet, sensitive, and uplifting coming of age story that many young readers will find something to relate to in. It's not one of those novels with a ton of crossover appeal for adults, but it is great for its audience and I liked it a lot.
Challenge Tally
Middle Grade Mission: 5/24
Total Books Read in 2022: 14
