THE FROGGY LIBRARY

A summer job in a small-town library leads to challenges and discoveries for a young frog who’s visiting their grandmother.

Thrilled to find that the tiny Soggy Stump library has manga and a welcoming librarian, Anura jumps at her job offer—and soon finds themself assigned to interview residents of the Navajo town with the aim of assembling a community archive funded by a grant from the Amphibious Library Association. The narrative draws on the author’s personal experiences and pauses occasionally for panels offering quick facts on a variety of topics shared by Grandma, librarian Fern, and others about Navajo lifeways (from frybread to traditional textiles) while sharing the multiple roles that libraries can play within communities. Anura learns about zines from the proprietor of the local comics shop, makes a new friend at the library, and receives sympathy and support when their beloved grandma goes into hospice care. Anura grapples with what it means to be Native when they “didn’t learn the language” and “don’t know any of the prayers or songs”—leading to the realization that telling a community’s story must include action, not just records stored in boxes. In Diné author Fiveash’s debut, simply drawn desert scenes with clean lines are populated by amphibian figures with large, rounded heads atop straight-limbed, casually dressed human bodies. Lome’s color palette evokes the Southwest desert setting.

Fetchingly oddball, with an engaging storyline.