Mindy Makes Some Space: A Graphic Novel Review

Mindy Kim is pretty sure she has it all figured out. Things are going great with PAWs, the dog walking business she runs with her best friends Gabby Jordan and Priya Gupta. And things are always great with Mindy’s mom–it’s always been just the two of them at home and that’s just how Mindy likes it.

Except things are changing for Mindy at home and on the PAWs front. And she’s not sure she likes it. In fact, she’s pretty positive she hates it.

First Mindy’s mom has met someone–a total dork with an admittedly exceptional (and enormous) cat named Chonk. And as their relationship progresses Mindy isn’t sure she wants to make room for someone else in all of the family traditions she has with her mom.

Then Hazel starts at school. Gabby and Priya like the new girl immediately, but Mindy isn’t sure how to feel about sharing her best friends with someone else–especially when Hazel wants to join PAWs too.

With everything changing, Mindy’s resistance to change could lead to some big upheaval at home and with PAWs that could turn into a cat-tastrophe in .

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Mindy Makes Some Space is the second book in the PAWs series which begins with Gabby Gets It Together. Although this book builds on what comes before, Mindy provides a helpful recap for any readers who decide to dive in without reading the first volume. Mindy and her mom are Korean, Gabby is biracial (her dad is shown with brown skin while her mom is lighter), Priya is Indian. The story takes place in Canada. Hazel uses a wheelchair.

Mindy has a lot of growing to do in this installment as she tries to deal with new people in her life. While totally realistic, her behavior can be pretty cringe-inducing with overt rudeness to her mom’s new boyfriend and hurtful snubs to keep Hazel out of PAWs.

Hazel is a great addition to the group (even if it takes Mindy some time to admit it) but, afraid of losing what she has with Gabby and Priya, Mindy does everything she can to keep Hazel out of PAWs. This includes questioning how Hazel will be able to walk dogs when she is in a wheelchair and instead trying to leave her to walk Chonk all by herself. While the ableism in Mindy’s behavior is pretty clear, it isn’t addressed by name which felt like a missed moment. Hazel does eventually confront Mindy about her behavior (and Gabby and Priya about their complicity by not speaking up). By the end of this installment, Mindy acknowledges her own bad behavior and that she’s going to have to work hard to fully make it up to Hazel.

Mindy Makes Some Space is another fun installment with a lot of humor while also tackling the prickly growing pains that can come with changing families and changing friend dynamics.

Possible Pairings: Home Sweet Forever Home by Rachele Alpine and Addy Rivera Sonda, Best Babysitters Ever by Caroline Cala, The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton and David Mottram, Real Friends by Shannon Hale, LeUyen Pham, and Jane Poole, Clara Humble and the Not-So-Super Powers by Anna Humphrey and Lisa Cinar, All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson, Allergic: A Graphic Novel by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter, Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier, Click by Kayla Miller, Good Dogs with Bad Haircuts Rachel Wenitsky, David Sidorov, Tor Freeman, Original Recipe by Jessica Young

Gabby Gets It Together: A Graphic Novel Review

Bookish Gabby Jordan, athletic Priya Gupta, and trendy Mindy Kim don’t have a lot in common when they first meet at school. That is until the girls realize they all adore animals even if none of them can have a pet of their own.

Desperate to get in some face time with literally any furry friends, the girls come up with a few plans. After their initial attempts don’t go as well as they’d hoped, PAWs (Pretty Awesome Walkers) is born to fill the gap in their neighborhood for afterschool dog walking.

While the dogs are great, it turns out running a business can be hard–even when it’s with your best friends. With arguments about uniforms, schedules, and commitment to the business it’s starting to feel like there’s not even any time left to spend with their doggy clientele.

When things (and leashes) get out of hand Gabby, Priya, and Mindy will have to work together if they want to save their business and their friendship in Gabby Gets It Together (2022) by Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn.

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Gabby Gets It Together is the first of what will hopefully be a long running series. This volume introduces all of the characters (including their main dog clients) and the club leaving lots of room to grow in later volumes. Gabby is biracial (her dad is shown with brown skin while her mom is lighter), Priya is Indian, and Mindy is Korean. The story takes place in Canada.

Voiceovers from Gabby and snappy dialogue move this story along while colorful and detailed artwork create engrossing panels on every page. All of the animals PAWs encounter are drawn with loving care–if you aren’t an animal lover when you start this graphic novel, you might be by the end!

In addition to discovering many furry friends, the members of PAWs navigate the ins and outs of new friendship and a new business throughout the story as they work with parents to figure out realistic workloads and communicate with clients what they can and can’t do. All of this is presented in a way that’s realistic for a group of pre-teens and also offers a potential framework for any young readers who might be inspired to try starting their own dog walking venture.

With its sense of humor and focus on friendship, Gabby Gets It Together–and the rest of this series–make a great read-a-like for the classic Baby-Sitters’ Club (in prose or graphic form) and titles like Real Friends by Shannon Hale. Highly Recommended.

Possible Pairings: Home Sweet Forever Home by Rachele Alpine and Addy Rivera Sonda, Best Babysitters Ever by Caroline Cala, The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton and David Mottram, Real Friends by Shannon Hale, LeUyen Pham, and Jane Poole, Clara Humble and the Not-So-Super Powers by Anna Humphrey and Lisa Cinar, All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson, Allergic: A Graphic Novel by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter, Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier, Click by Kayla Miller, Good Dogs with Bad Haircuts Rachel Wenitsky, David Sidorov, Tor Freeman, Original Recipe by Jessica Young

Frizzy: A Graphic Novel Review

Marlene would rather have her nose in a book or spend time with her best friend Camila than focusing on school and growing up the way her mom wants. Tia Ruby–her mom’s younger sister–is a grown up but she’s still cool and fun. Can’t Marlene be like her instead?

According to her mom, the answer is no. Instead Marlene has to trek to the salon every weekend with her mom to make sure that her naturally curly hair can be properly straightened and relaxed to look “good” and “proper.” It’s not even just the salon because after that Marlene has to make sure she doesn’t run around too much, or get her hair wet, or do anything fun that might ruin the straightening.

Marlene doesn’t understand why her curls are so bad–she loves her natural hair and the way Tia Ruby has the same (admittedly more under control) curls. And she’s beautiful. Can’t Marlene’s hair be like that?

With help from Camila and Tia Ruby (and quite a few disasters along the way), Marlene hopes that she can learn how to maintain her natural hair and convince her mother that her curly hair can be “good” without all of the salon visits in Frizzy (2022) by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra.

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Frizzy is Ortega’s first graphic novel and Bousamra’s debut; it received a 2023 Pura Belpré Award for Children’s Text. Bousamra’s illustrations and their soft color palette tenderly bring Marlene’s story to life. The soft colors and fine line work lovingly portray both Marlene and Ruby’s curls in this ode to natural hair. The interplay between Ortega’s text and Bousamra’s art make this full-color graphic novel a delight with a great balance of dialog, expository text, and visual cues.

Marlene and her family are Dominican American. Laugh-inducing efforts to properly style Marlene’s uncooperative curls add humor to this relatable story that also tackles anti-blackness (in relation to seeking “good” hair styles reminiscent of white hair) within the latinx community in thoughtful and age-appropriate conversations with both Marlene’s mom and her aunt. In addition to celebrating natural hair, Frizzy also joyfully gives Marlene space to choose how she will present herself to the world and–with support from her loved ones–also helps her find the agency to reclaim wash day for family bonding instead of dreaded salon trips.

Frizzy is a wonderfully empowering story about family, acceptance, and growing up. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel, Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo, Mercy Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, Chunky by Yehudi Mercado, The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao, Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution by Sherri Winston

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Miss Quinces: A Graphic Novel Review

Suyapa “Sue” Gutiérrez wants to spend her summer drawing comics and hanging out with her friends at sleepaway camp.

Instead, Sue’s parents whish her away to visit family in Honduras with older sister Carmen and younger sister Ester. But unlike sleepaway camp, which would only be a few weeks, this trip is going to last all summer. To make matters worse their relatives live in the country where it’s so rural there is no phone, no internet, and not even any cable.

Just as Sue grudgingly makes her peace with all of that, she finds out that her mother has planned an entire quinceañera for Sue. In secret! With over 100 guests invited! And a pink princess theme!

Sue likes black a lot more than she’ll ever like pink, she doesn’t want to learn how to dance, and she definitely doesn’t want to wear a frilly pink gown.

As Sue learns more about her family history, new perspective from her artist grandmother might lead Sue to a compromise about the dreaded quinceañera if a sudden loss in the family doesn’t eclipse the entire party in Miss Quinces (2022) by Kat Fajardo.

Find it on Bookshop.

Miss Quinces is Fajardo’s debut graphic novel and hopefully the first of many. The story starts in New York before Sue’s summer plans are upended and is primarily set in Honduras–speech bubbles present English dialog in black text and Spanish dialog (translated into English) in Blue.

Bright, full color illustrations work well with Fajardo’s graphic style that focuses on her characters. Sue’s story is firmly grounded in Latinx culture and the customs surrounding quinceañeras but Sue’s struggles to balance her Honduran heritage with her own American sensibilities will ring true to any reader trying to straddle two worlds.

Along the way, both Sue and readers learn more about quinceañera traditions while also seeing ways that Sue (and her family) are able to adapt in order to make sure Sue’s quinceañera is one she’d actually want to attend. The story does include the death of Sue’s grandmother which, while obviously sad, is handled well.

An author’s note at the end includes some thoughts from Fajardo on her own quinceañera.

Miss Quinces is an optimistic coming-of-age story from an author to watch. Recommended.

Possible Pairings: Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol, Isla to Island by Alexa Castellanos, Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani, Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley, Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra, For the Love of Laxmi by Bijal Shah

Salt Magic: A Graphic Novel Review

Vonceil is ecstatic when her older brother, Elber, comes home after serving on the front in the Great War. But the brother who comes back isn’t the one the Vonceil remembers. Wartime has made him serious and responsible–ready, even, to marry the girl he left behind–when Vonceil thought they’d have more time to play and get to know each other again.

Things get stranger when a sophisticated and mysterious woman arrives at their Oklahoma farm dressed all in white. She blames Elber for leaving her behind in France. She wants him to join her now.

When Elber refuses, she curses the family well and turns the entire town’s fresh water supply into saltwater.

To save her town and try to rescue her brother, Vonceil will have to travel far from everything she’s ever known into a world filled with magic, shapeshifting animals, and witches including a fickle Sugar Witch and the lady in white herself–a Salt Witch in Salt Magic (2021) by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock.

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Salt Magic is the latest standalone graphic novel from Larson and Mock. All characters are presented as white.

Vonceil’s adventure blends historical fiction set at the end of World War I with larger than life fairytale magic–a contrast that mirrors Vonceil’s own mixed feelings about getting older and growing up. Mock’s artwork is sophisticated and layered as she captures both the vast emptiness of the midwest and the lush, decadent magical world Vonceil discovers. Detailed and vibrantly colored artwork fully capitalizes on the full color page design and perfectly conveys the lush magic of the story–especially the Sugar Witch’s confections.

A well-paced plot and nuanced characters elevate this story filled with action, adventure, and magic.

Possible Pairings: A House Divided by Haiko Hornig, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, Pony by R.J. Palacio, Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, Oyster War by Ben Towle

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Bounce Back: A Graphic Novel Review

Moving to a new country means a lot of changes for Lilico Takada. In Japan Lilico was popular and the captain of her school basketball team. In Brooklyn, Lilico has to start from scratch with her best friends on the other side of the world and a whole new school culture to figure out–all while working on improving her English. When Lilico’s hopes of finding new friends on the basketball team ends with a painful rejection, Lilico finds unlikely help from her cat, Nico, who turns out to be way more than a regular housecat.

With magical Nico dispensing advice and two new friends excited about Japanese culture (and talking cats), Lilico finally start to find her footing. As Lilico navigates a year full of changes for her entire family, she’ll take any help she can to figure out where she fits in Bounce Back (2021) by Misako Rocks!

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Bounce Back is a standalone graphic novel filled with sports, friendship, and some magic. The book reads in the Western (left-to-right) style with artwork in Misako’s typical manga-infused style. The pages include quick asides, footnotes, and even back matter with a guide to draw Nico, create some of the characters’ signature fashions, and learn Japanese. Nico’s transformation from beloved pet cat to talking guardian spirit also makes this a great stepping stone from magical girl stories to more contemporary fare.

Lilico comes from a close-knit family and Bounce Back does a great job of showing the upheaval for both Lilico and her parents as they adjust to the move–especially Lilico’s mom who has to work even harder to make her own friends and learn English since she doesn’t work outside of the home. With a strong focus on basketball this graphic novel blends sports with Japanese culture and even fashion as Lilico and her new classmates find intersecting interests.

Full color illustrations are easy to follow and bring Lilico and her semi-magical world vibrantly to life. Bounce Back is a fun manga-style graphic novel perfect for anyone whose ever had to deal with being the new kid.

Possible Pairings: Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas, New Kid by Jerry Craft, Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza, Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai, Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Witches of Brooklyn: A Graphic Novel Review

After her mom dies eleven-year-old Effie is shipped off to live in Brooklyn with Aunt Selimene and her partner Carlota–two weird old ladies she’s never met.

Effie misses her mom, her home, and her old life. Surly Selimene isn’t much happier about the change to her comfortable routine.

Things take an unexpected turn when Effie finds out her new family puts the strange in strangers. Turns out her aunts aren’t just eccentric. They’re witches! And Effie is too.

As she learns more about her family and her powers, Effie finds new friends and plenty of surprises in Brooklyn–especially when cursed pop star Tilly Shoo shows up at the family brownstone looking for help in Witches of Brooklyn (2020) by Sophie Escabasse.

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Witches of Brooklyn is the magical start to Escabasse’s Witches of Brooklyn series. The cast includes characters with a variety of skintones, body types, and styles all depicted with care in detailed illustrations. Bright colors, sharp lines and interesting choices like making Selimene’s pet Lion (a dog with some of his own magic) magenta give this graphic novel a unique palette and a distinct feel while reading. Sly pop culture references including unmistakable similarities between Tilly Shoo and a certain pop star add extra fun and whimsy to this story.

Effie’s initial grief and adjustment both to her new surroundings and her new magical identity are handled well. Escabasse makes great use of page design to showcase the beautifully detailed surroundings in Effie’s new home and neighborhood in larger panels while close ups help bring motion and body language into the narrative.

Witches of Brooklyn is the perfect blend of humor and heart with found family, action, and magic (of course!). While this volume has a self-contained story arc, fans will be eager to check out the next installment and return to Effie’s world.

Possible Pairings: ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calpse by Stephanie Cooke and Mari Costa, The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill, The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag, The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner, Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu, Kiki’s Delivery Service

The Awakening Storm: A Graphic Novel Review

Grace is excited to move to Hong Kong with her mom and her new stepdad. Her father might be dead, but this is her chance to connect with his culture and the stories he always told her about dragons.

When an old woman thrusts a strange egg at Grace during a school trip, she begins to realize that her father’s stories might be more fact than fiction.

After the egg hatches Grace and her new friends will have to find a way to protect the baby dragon while trying to figure out the scope of the dragon’s powers–and who the shady organization is that wants to use those powers for ill in The Awakening Storm (2021) by Jaimal Yogis, illustrated by Vivian Truong.

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The Awakening Storm is the first graphic novel in Yogis and Truong’s City of Dragons series. The book includes full color illustrations. Grace’s mother is white and her father was Chinese. Grace’s friends at her international school come from a variety of cultures.

Yogis’s characters are presented with care and an excellent use of dialog–especially with Grace and her new group of friends–to showcase the character relationships at work. Truong’s full color illustrations are dynamic and translate the action of this story well into motion-filled panels. The vibrant colors and cartoon-like style work well for the story and make for one extremely cute dragon.

The Awakening Storm is an immediately engrossing adventure filled with fast friends, quick banter between characters, and an amazing blend of Chinese mythology in a modern story.

Possible Pairings: Caster by Elsie Chapman, Chasing Power by Sarah Beth Durst, City of Thieves by Alex London

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calpse: A Graphic Novel Review

Fall break for Abby means helping out at her mom’s coffee shop and babysitting her little sister, Ella. Hopefully in between all that Abby will get to hang out with her friends Hannah (a ghost who immigrated from a spectral dimension), Gita (a wolf-girl), and Silas (a pumpkinhead doing his best to spread awareness and encourage a gourd-free autumn for all). If she’s really lucky Abby will also get to practice some of her spellwork and potions–if she gets goods enough maybe her mom will add some of Abby’s potions to the menu.

When Ella is bullied by speed demons, Abby obviously has to help. But something goes wrong with her magic. Instead of diverting the bullies Abbby opens a portal to another realm. A realm filled with chaos bunnies.

The bunnies are super cute when they’re on their side of the portal. When they start hopping through North Haven they’re decidedly less cute and markedly more chaotic.

With the bunnies leaving a trail of, well, chaos in their wake Abby will have to get help from her friends to fix her magic and stop this a-hop-ocalypse in its tracks in ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calpse (2021) by Stephanie Cooke, illustrated by Mari Costa.

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ParaNorthern: And the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calpse is a fun middle grade graphic novel that introduces readers to Abby, her friends, and the magical town of North Haven. Abby and her family are Black. Hannah is brown skinned and wears a hijab. Cooke and Costa have worked together to create a town that is presented as both inclusive and magical with background characters as well. This creates a lot of front-loading in terms of world building but it also makes North Haven a town readers will want to return to again and again.

Cooke drops readers into the middle of the story without a lot of explanation about North Haven’s clearly magical underpinnings or Abby’s abilities as a witch. As it turns out, that’s something Abby is still figuring out herself which becomes a big part of the book’s plot. Costa uses an orange-hued palette for scenes in North Haven while more magical panels on other planes are more purple. Snappy dialog between Abby’s friend group demonstrates support and gives space to a developing romance between Abby and Gita. Costa’s illustrations make bloodthirsty chaos bunnies cuter than they have any right to be while also admirably portraying motion and action including an expertly drawn double page spread of the rabbits runnning rampant through the coffee shop.

The fast clip of the story can feel rushed but remains enjoyable. Themes of support and love from both friends and family add heart to this magical adventure.

Possible Pairings: Moonstruck by Grace Ellis, Shae Beagle, Kate Leth; Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse; Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner; Snapdragon by Kat Leyh; Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen; Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks; Camp Midnight by Steven T. Seagle; The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner; Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

The Girl From the Sea: A Graphic Novel Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Fifteen-year-old Morgan Kwon is counting down the days until she finishes high school. Once she graduates Morgan will be able to start her real life at college where she won’t have to worry about her divorced mom or her moody younger brother, Aiden.

Best of all, Morgan won’t have to keep any more secrets–like the fact that she’s gay. Even with a supportive family and a great group of friends, Morgan isn’t sure how anyone will take that news. She isn’t sure she wants to find out.

Everything changes one night when Morgan falls into the water. Saved by a mysterious girl named Keltie, Morgan starts to wonder if she doesn’t have to wait for her real life to start after all.

Kelie is pretty and funny. She helps Morgan see Wilneff Island in a new light. She’s also a little strange. But by the time Morgan learns the truth about Keltie, she knows she’ll do whatever it takes to help Keltie. Even if it means revealing some of her own secrets in The Girl From the Sea (2021) by Molly Knox Ostertag.

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The Girl From the Sea is a summery standalone graphic novel illustrated in full color.

The story closely follows Morgan as she balances summer fun with her friends (including clever pages of texts between the group of girls interspersed throughout the book) alongside getting to know Keltie. This sweet story of first love and embracing yourself is rounded out with hints of environmentalism and selkie folkore that Morgan and Keltie unpack together as Keltie reveals her secrets.

Tight plotting, carefully detailed illustrations, and fully realized characters make The Girl From the Sea a graphic novel that readers will want to revisit again and again.

Possible Pairings: The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott, Bloom by Kevin Panetta, You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez, Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*