- Graphic Novels
- Ages 8–12
- Fantasy
Haru Book 2: Summer
Book 2 of 3 in HaruView the full series
A darker, more expansive second volume that continues Haru and Yama's quest towards the Beacon. Reviews note this volume is genuinely more unsettling than the first, best for readers who handled book 1's eerier moments well.
- Best for8–12
- FormatGraphic
- Length272 pp
- Read aloud~2 hr10 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Literary
Tone
- Adventurous
- Exciting
- Suspenseful
- Dark
- Heartwarming
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Haru and Yama continue their journey through the Valley, still trying to reach the Beacon and understand how to deal with the heart of briar. Their quest becomes more dangerous as the shadow of Blight grows, a relentless hunter enters the story, and new companions and threats complicate the path ahead. Meanwhile, Goose, Herb and other friends face their own tests, making this second volume feel broader and more urgent than the first. Summer deepens the mythology of Haru's world while keeping the emotional core focused on friendship, fear, family and the courage to keep going when you feel small. Joe Latham's art remains the defining pleasure: lush, full-colour, forested and strange, with a beauty that sits alongside genuinely unsettling fantasy imagery. This is a middle volume, best read after Spring, and it pushes the series further into epic fantasy territory.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 8–12
- Read aloud · 7–11
- Independent · 8–12
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery, bullying, violence, death of parent.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
1 / 5 · Tough fit
Graphic intensity
4 / 5 · Notable
Best for
- Beautiful fantasy art
- Animal fantasy
- Quest story
- Darker middle grade
- Lightfall readalikes
Avoid if
- Very sensitive to darkness
- Very sensitive to violence
- Wants standalone story
- Wants fast gags
- Bedtime only
Particularly good for children who are…
- Low self esteem
- Anxiety and worry
- Nightmares or fears
- Being bullied
- Bereavement
- Reluctant reader
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A striking, action-packed fantasy graphic-novel series — a reluctant-reader pick with heart.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the hunter pursuing them — Haru and Yama still trying to reach the Beacon, Blight's shadow growing, a relentless tracker entering the story, Goose and Herb facing their own tests. The second Haru where the series pushes into proper epic-fantasy territory.
- Adventure and freedom
- Friendship and belonging
- Surviving danger
- Being special or chosen
Why parents love it
The Haru middle volume — darker and more expansive than Spring, mythology deepening, skeleton monsters and void flies arriving. Best read after Spring; meaningfully more unsettling. Latham's art still the defining pleasure.
- Beautiful illustrations
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
- Indie gem discovery
In the series
Haru.
3 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Joe Latham.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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