Anituk the is merrily going about his business of living with his mum, dad and older brother, when a stranger arrives at his family camp. There is something a little mysterious about the newcomer and he has some mighty odd quirks. Like penguin punting. heh.

I guess I was expecting a certain amount of angst and sad bits, this was written by Tina Anderson after all. But while there were definitely some moody longing looks and sighs, most of the book was light hearted, humorous and damn cute.

I liked Abalu, he’s so ernest and totally gone on Anituk, who doesn’t have a clue. The interactions between the two are captured beautifully by Amelie Belcher. She had me sniggering away at poor Anituk’s misfortunes and frustration at Abalu’s invasion of his personal space. Tina Anderson’s writing takes you from plenty of smoochy romantic stuff, to angsty OMG she can’t leave me hanging! I think the end was particularly well done with regards the timing and depiction of the characters.

My favorite panels are where you first get a glimpse of Abalu, who’s all windswept and interesting in the snow. There was also a page where Abituk is sleeping, so Abalu has a go at waking him up by mooching around under the blankets. Did I say cute already?

The mixture of angst and humor made for seriously cool reading and if this looks like your bag, then you can check it out via the Loud Snow website, buy it on Kindle or the print edition AND there is a version at eManga. Cool!
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