Space Trash Vol. 1

by Jenn Woodall

Overview

A 2024 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teen

In Jenn Woodall's debut graphic novel series, three teenagers attending school on the moon try to keep their boredom and resentments at bay as they stumble across an exciting secret that could change the course of their future.

In 2115, Earth has been abandoned as a lost cause and mankind has moved on to space colonization. At a decrepit high school on the moon for underprivileged youth, Stab, Yuki and Una are three teenagers who try to keep their boredom and resentment at bay by fighting rival gangs and cliques, hanging out, sleeping their way through class, all while trying to avoid punishment from the Student Council.

Fights over turf, respect and snacks lead to unearthing an exciting secret, but will their friendship be strong enough to forge a new future?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637150405
Publisher:	Oni Press
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Series:	Space Trash , #1
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Jenn Woodall is an award-winning comics creator and illustrator who lives in Toronto, Ontario. She grew up in Brampton, where she devoured comics and manga from her local mall and scrounged for bootleg anime VHS tapes at her local Chinatown. She moved to Toronto for school, where she studied fashion design, then Illustration, at OCADU. She works as a freelance illustrator and has worked with Silver Sprocket, IDW Publishing, Quirk Books, and others. She has a small cat named Boo.

Editorial Reviews

07/11/2022

In 2091, when Earth shows signs that it can no longer support human life, Planet X Co., formed by the “brave and caring leaders of Earth,” colonize the moon and Mars for planetary relocation. Now, in 2115, Mars is reserved for the rich and elite, while the moon houses underprivileged youth, including Una, a Black tech-minded transfer student from the Mars Technical Institute; Asian-cued Yuki, an athlete who lived on Earth up until two years ago; and white perpetually-in-detention Stab, the trio’s loose cannon. Together, they make up the Planet Stompers, one of the many constantly feuding groups within the school, which includes the Hell Bats and the rumored to exist Trash Queens. But while their class routines and lives feel monotonous, an intriguing scientific discovery shakes up their dreary lunar existence. Woodall’s strength lies in the art’s vibrant color palette, distinctly designed characters, and energetic paneling. Though the Planet Stompers’ character arcs feel standard, and the lack of a definitive plot trajectory can cause narrative listlessness, Woodall’s ensemble-led, plot-driven sci-fi debut deftly examines capitalism, classism, and colonization’s effects on humankind through the lens of three rough-and-tumble high schoolers just trying to survive their lunar education. Ages 13–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A funny choice for teens looking for stories about imperfect girls just trying to get through high school—with a side of space and adventure.

Booklist

"Space Trash Volume 1 is an exciting and dramatic graphic novel whose teenage cast contends with a space-going mystery."

Foreword Reviews

2022-07-27
A group of teenage girls tries to survive in a neglected high school on the moon.

In this future world, the prevailing narrative is that Earth was clearly becoming uninhabitable by the year 2091. Having terraformed Mars and the moon, however, humans still persist. Hypatia Secondary School is a run-down, graffiti-covered high school on the moon that best friends Yuki Goro, Agatha “Stab” Cleary, and Una Nichols attend. Yuki, a champion wrestler, dreams of forming a girl gang as formidable as the urban legends the Trash Queens. Meanwhile, Agatha must get through the detention she’s received as a consequence for dozing off in her robot-instructed class, and Una is sneaking time on one of the school computers for reasons that remain unspecified. Life at Hypatia has its quirks, but it’s mostly predictable—that is, until a rival girl gang violates the trio’s hangout spot and steals their things. From there, discoveries are made that will change the friends’ trajectories forever. Woodall’s knack for snappy dialogue and colorful palettes make this first volume a treat, though it feels more like a setup than a solid entry on its own. Characters with a range of skin colors, body types, and sexualities populate the main cast and background characters.

This series opener is an intriguing introduction to a new science-fiction world. (character designs) (Graphic science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews