B.P.M.: Beats Per Minute - Softcover

Roxy is a club kid and aspiring DJ in New York City. Loud, opinionated and a little scattered, she's the kind of girl who keeps her life—including calendar—on her iPod. When Robie, a semi-legend who now runs a used-record store, offers to take her under his wing, she gets the chance to play the big clubs and maybe even to cut a record. But to make her dreams of DJ stardom come true, she must choose between the records and her girlfriend Hannah. The Portrait of the Artist as a Club Kid plot is standard issue, but Sizer (Moped Army; Little White Mouse) adds distinctive, nicely observed details. He ramps up the art as well: bold ink lines, day-glo background colors, even neon-bordered speech balloons add to the impression that the reader is raving right along with the characters. A soundtrack—referencing songs by Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants and Everything but the Girl—runs at the bottom of each page, bringing the reader as close as possible to a multimedia experience. Call it a mashup, call it a remix, call it a day-glo pop love letter to a misspent youth: B.P.M. is brain candy in the best sense of the word. (Nov.)
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In his note to the reader, Sizer says his dual love for music and comics left little time for anything else. So it goes with his heroine DJ Roxy, slave to the rhythm, who gives up a girlfriend, sleep, and a social life in pursuit of her dream throughout this gorgeous graphic novel. Sizer infuses digital images into his drawings, amping up the hyper energy of New York’s nightclub underworld. Roxy’s renaissance opens with a caffeine jolt of light and sound coursing readers into Plush, a gay nightclub under the spell of DJ Atsuko, where Roxy merely observes in awe. She quickly comes off the sidelines, though, and we are introduced to her other DJ friend, Dom, and her Yoda-like mentor, Robie. Dubbed the “Café Digital Extended House mix,” this edition comes complete with liner notes and suggested tracks to play softly in the background or to supplement the sets Roxy plays during her gigs. This one’s a keeper. Grades 10-12. --Courtney Jones