Summary
High
school student Jane and her family move to the suburbs after Metro City is
bombed. An unidentified John Doe is injured near Jane as the bomb goes off in
Metro City. Jane finds inspiration in John’s sketch book of art and vows to
continue his work. Jane decides to change her life; she cuts her long blond
hair short and dyes it black. At her new school in boring Kent Waters, she
decides not to befriend the popular girls she would’ve been friends with before
and instead joins a group of loners, who happen to all be named Jane as well.
In her effort to change, Jane forms P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art in
Neighborhoods) with the other Janes, a secret underground group that “attacks”
the town with art. After the recent bomb attack in Metro City, the town panics
and police search for the artists they deem to be terrorists. Will the
P.L.A.I.N. Janes be found out?
Analysis
Castellucci
and Rugg have done a good job writing a graphic novel geared toward teen girls.
The circumstance seems familiar, as the bomb attack reminds the reader of September 11.
Even though it isn’t too believable that all the girls at one table would be
named Jane, I bought into it because of the graphic novel format. It just
seemed right. And the fact that the name of the art group is P.L.A.I.N. is a
funny play on words. Each Jane in the group has a different stereotypical
personality. There is “Main Jane,” our strong willed protagonist, “Brain Jayne,”
the nerd, “Sporty Jane” the soccer playing benchwarmer with full uni-brow, and “Theater
Jane,” the self-proclaimed actress and comedienne. The drawings of each Jane
fit the stereotypes as well. Then there is the stereotypical cheerleader and
flamboyantly gay character that somehow end up joining P.L.A.I.N. There
stereotypes in the book somehow seem to work though. I think they add a tongue-in-cheek
element to the story and high school angst. I enjoyed Jane’s letters to John
Doe throughout and shared her emotional connection to this nearly nonexistent but
very important character. This book was a great introduction for me into the
graphic novel genre. It is a quick, easy read, and I recommend it for any
middle school or high school library.
