Leaf/Daishu Ma

How much power does a single man, let alone a single leaf, have in the industrial world? In this wordless, all-ages graphic novel, our protagonist discovers a leaf that radiates a vibrant light. He returns to a detailed metropolis depicted in somber grays and blues and searches for answers. During his quest, he stumbles upon a man who knows what s really happening in the city s labyrinthine ducts; a woman who spends her life studying and classifying obsolete flora; and the truth about the ever-dwindling environment. Leaf is a graphically stunning story that unfolds with a dream-like pace. Shaded in pencil and punctuated by spot colors, drawn in a delicate but concretely realized tonal approach reminiscent of Shaun Tan s The Arrival and Chris Van Allsburg s Jumanji, Chinese cartoonist Daishu Ma s first foray onto American shelves is ultimately a hopeful vision of the coexistence of the urban and natural worlds."