Imaginative artwork, galaxy-spanning adventures, and themes of friendship make this graphic novel shine.
In this middle-grade graphic novel, Punk Taco and his bandmates use music and love to save the universe.
Punk Taco, rendered as an animated taco with the works, is the leader of an intergalactic band of fellow multicolored alien musicians who want to “peace and love” across the galaxy. While on the planet New Omega, there’s an alert that an alien refugee has escaped quarantine and is considered dangerous. Punk Taco runs into the supposed threat—a young refugee who’s hungry and alone. Punk Taco nicknames his new friend Philip and promises him that he’ll help him find his family, as long as they can evade the Galactic Union Border Patrol. After introducing Philip to his friends and getting the supplies ready for his famous nachos, Punk Taco’s thrilling adventures continue as he finds himself being teleported against his will onto a spaceship in nearby orbit. Grand Admiral Tobias Kodakian of the Sciuridae Tribal Union is desperate for Punk Taco’s help to fuel their bio-ship—a giant space-whale that loves nachos. The Sciuridae people are under attack by Boogarr the Mad King, and it’s up to Punk Taco, his bandmates, and his new friend Philip to save the day with peace, love, and rock ’n’ roll. In this middle-grade graphic novel, authors Adam and Makana Wallenta, a parent-and-child team, have penned a story of bonhomie—in space and at home. With bright colors, fantastical aliens, and sentient human-taco hybrids, the illustrations of the various aliens and planetary creatures are sure to keep a young reader’s attention. The plot is fast-moving, with a prose level that’s appropriate for its target audience (“We should always be willing to fight and help those in need—no matter the sacrifice!”).The theme of being kind and helping others is woven throughout the novel, though never heavy-handedly. The series will continue with additional installments, and this book includes two Punk Taco short stories, “The Wonder of Art” and “Potty Humor,” both educational as well as entertaining, along with other resources.
Imaginative artwork, galaxy-spanning adventures, and themes of friendship make this graphic novel shine.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781545822869
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios/Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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