A relatable tale that will ring true with both creative and athletic readers.
Are sports the only way to make friends?
After Ellie’s parents divorce, she, her older brother, Robbie, and their mother relocate. At the kids’ new school, Robbie fits in right away, but Ellie feels alienated by her snarky, cliquish classmates. The school has a strong athletic culture, and though Ellie prefers reading about the superhero Super Stella and watching movies, her mother’s convinced that playing a sport will help her make friends. So Ellie tries volleyball, tennis, archery, and swimming—with little success. After each failure, she asks to take dance lessons. Her father, who visits and calls, is sympathetic, but her mother thinks dance is too competitive and a distraction from school. Ellie’s first romance and a small group of arty friends solidify her love of dance and help her find a sneaky way to pursue her passion. Translated from Italian, this tale is well suited for more experienced graphic novel readers; there are no chapter headings, and clues about the passage of time are often subtle. The story is relatable, though, and the loose-lined, often exaggerated images are filled with humor. Auditory details like a classroom chair squeaking when it’s scooted back, Robbie tearing through moving boxes, and onomatopoeia add to the fun. Ellie and her family are light-skinned; her class is diverse.
A relatable tale that will ring true with both creative and athletic readers. (Graphic fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781958325001
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Marble Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
An uplifting, sympathetic portrayal of dyslexia and friendship.
A young dyslexic girl struggles with reading.
Stella Martinez can’t wait to start fifth grade. She and her BFFs, Latasha and Emiko, even get to sit together in Miss Marin’s class. But to Stella’s dismay, school soon feels like “one big reading class.” Even math, one of her favorite subjects besides art, has word problems, and the fifth grade project is a Young Authors Competition. Textbooks have longer words and fewer pictures, making comprehension time-consuming, and Stella falls behind. Even the new online universe for Stella and her friends’ favorite show, Witchlins, requires a guidebook, which Stella has trouble following. As her BFFs and classmates discuss the game, Stella feels left out. Will reading ruin her friendships? Garcia, who based Stella’s story on her daughter’s journey of coming to terms with dyslexia and her own experiences with neurodivergence, introduces a multifaceted protagonist with a learning disability and encouragingly highlights various coping strategies. Adults are warmly supportive, barring a dour, gray-haired, light-skinned librarian whose misconception that graphic novels aren’t “real” books is emphatically dispelled. In keeping with Miss Marin’s affirmation that “all brains work differently,” the book’s clear lettering, decodable text, and expressive art invite readers of all abilities to root for Stella. Stella and her dad and sibling are brown-skinned and cued Latine; Mom is pale-skinned. Latasha presents Black, Emiko is of East Asian descent, and Miss Marin has light-brown skin.
An uplifting, sympathetic portrayal of dyslexia and friendship. (resources, cover design process) (Graphic fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781250840882
Page Count: 208
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Epic lunacy.
Will extragalactic rats eat the moon?
Can a cybernetic toenail clipper find a worthy purpose in the vast universe? Will the first feline astronaut ever get a slice of pizza? Read on. Reworked from the Live Cartoon series of homespun video shorts released on Instagram in 2020 but retaining that “we’re making this up as we go” quality, the episodic tale begins with the electrifying discovery that our moon is being nibbled away. Off blast one strong, silent, furry hero—“Meow”—and a stowaway robot to our nearest celestial neighbor to hook up with the imperious Queen of the Moon and head toward the dark side, past challenges from pirates on the Sea of Tranquility and a sphinx with a riddle (“It weighs a ton, but floats on air. / It’s bald but has a lot of hair.” The answer? “Meow”). They endure multiple close but frustratingly glancing encounters with pizza and finally deliver the malign, multiheaded Rat King and its toothy armies to a suitable fate. Cue the massive pizza party! Aside from one pirate captain and a general back on Earth, the human and humanoid cast in Harris’ loosely drawn cartoon panels, from the appropriately moon-faced queen on, is light skinned. Merch, music, and the original episodes are available on an associated website.
Epic lunacy. (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308408-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
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