(2) 4-6 K is a bourgeois school boy in what appears to be late-nineteenth-century Bohemia. He is frail, anxious, and lonely, isolated at home, withdrawn at school. In each of five graphic short stories, Clement presents a situation of powerlessness, oppression, or ennui in which K encounters a small moment of grace. An errand to buy a carp turns into a nightmare of chaos and alienation, but when K finally makes it back home, pursued by angry townspeople, his mother stands up for him. Faced with the cruel, absurdist bureaucracy of his school, K is comforted by a helpful beetle who advises him to write about it all one day. Based loosely on the life and work of Franz Kafka, this volume makes adept use of the graphic format, as everything from the pace of the panels to the size of the type effectively conveys the feeling of being small, quiet, and timid in a world that can be giant, loud, and aggressive. This isn't parody, pastiche, or melodrama but rather a sympathetic and respectful portrait of the condition of being a child, a condition as familiar now as then. Pair with Theule's Kafka and the Doll for an introduction to a sad boy who became one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Boobies are birds that live along the coasts of the Eastern Pacific. In this book, the red-footed boobies live on one rock in the sea; the blue-footed boobies live on a rock across the way. The groups vie for dominance and taunt each other (shouting "BEST!" and blowing raspberries), frustrating the hermit crab that lives on the rock between them. A Shakespearean drama unfolds when a blue-footed booby and a red-footed booby meet and fall in love. Ink and watercolor cartoon illustrations with heavy lines contrast with gently shaded colors, creating a sense of character and whimsy while also depicting realistic flourishes such as accurate booby courtship behaviors. Plentiful white space focuses the eye and presents opportunities for oversize text in expressive type to bring the words and art together. The text is a mix of straightforward and comical, with asides to make adults smile, as when readers learn that the hermit crab can perform the lovers' wedding ceremony "thanks to a certificate he got on the internet." As is the case in many families nursing an ancient grudge, the emergence of a baby makes everyone reconsider their antagonistic positions. "And finally, all the boobies actually agreed!" Back matter provides facts about boobies. Humorous lessons on life and animal behavior make this a memorable offering.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 The title page of this adventure features both a unicorn and a rainbow, but things quickly shift from cutesy to a more absurd and sidelong tone. The unnamed teeny-weeny unicorn is the smallest member of his family. This is obviously a relatable condition for the potential reader or listener, but this unicorn really is small -- about the size of a chess piece, too small to jump over a taco. His siblings, Fancy Annie and Prince Butterscotch, are condescending and mean. But size is relative, and when our hero inadvertently steps on and squishes the sports car belonging to an even tinier, tough-talking gnome (who then demands a settlement of $250,000), he realizes that in gnome terms he's a giant. The debt gets sorted out, but even better, the teeny-weeny unicorn gets a day alone at his family's palace home playing games by himself -- and the realization that he's a perfect size just as he is. The illustrations, in oil pastel, feature a dynamic relationship between text and images and hefty lashings of pink. Harris (Have You Ever Seen a Flower?, rev. 7/21) again uses the smearing potential of pastels to great effect in showing the teeny protagonist accelerating from walking to trotting to cantering to galloping. This original take on unicorn life and troubles elicits a wry grin on every page.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bryan Collier. School is a challenge for young James Earl Jones (b. 1931) due to his stutter. Hoping his teacher will not call upon him, the future celebrated African American actor remembers the last time he tried to read aloud: "Face burning. / Heart racing. / Kids laughing. / Mouth trying. / Voice blocking." As Jones grows older and his stuttering continues, he reasons that if he did not talk, he would not stutter. Instead, he listens. He listens to the news, his aunt's and uncle's music, and his mama's stories; at school, he listens, and he learns. In high school, an influential teacher introduces him to poetry. Captivated by its rhythms, James finds his voice, reciting and eventually writing his own verses, including "Ode to Grapefruit." His teacher encourages him to read it aloud, and, confronting his fears, he performs his poem in a "voice deep and smooth." Subsequently, Jones's distinctive voice leads to a successful career on stage and screen. Lavelle, a speech pathologist, sensitively captures the anxiety that may accompany the disorder and insightfully conveys the power of poetry. Collier's expressive art, rendered in collage and watercolor, compellingly portrays the subject's struggles and triumphs. Back matter includes information about stuttering, author and illustrator notes, and selected resources.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Dave Valeza. Color by Ash Szymanik. "Heck, I start seventh grade next week. I'm practically a man," proclaims Rex (Four Eyes, rev. 7/23), but he wakes up on the first day of school with a pimple "bigger than a planet" on his forehead, and thus begins his descent into middle-school hell. Soon, classmates are calling him Zit-head, Cyclops, and Pizza Face. And when the girls realize he's the youngest and smallest student in the class: "You're like our wittle baby." This sequel, also loosely based on Ogle's experiences, is just as endearing and engaging as the first book. Rex is a likable and relatable character; his trials with puberty and middle school ring true. He is picked last in gym class, sweats and smells, has mood swings, and says dumb things to girls that get him ostracized. The graphic novel format is perfect for such a character-based story. For instance, bully Victor is humanized in just a few panels that portray how his cruel behavior is learned from his father. Rex's abuela is back, too, to offer much-needed advice and help. Despite the tormenting and name-calling Rex deals with, these books are all about a strong family and good friends who support Rex when they can and stand up to him when they must.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) 4-6 Kylie fears she's too babyish to make the leap from elementary school to middle school with her friends Mara, Nikila, and Naomi. She can't seem to wear the right clothes or say the right thing, she'd rather play with her little sister than watch the scary movies her friends like, and she cries way too much. So scientifically minded Kylie devises an experiment to make herself more mature. The criteria? Not crying, plus doing everything that everyone else is doing. The experiment ultimately leads Kylie into a series of "yeses" she doesn't want to give. Agreeing to a lunch out with her friends means giving up sushi with her mom, and going on an adult-free trip to the mall puts her into some uncomfortable situations. Through parties, beach days, and sleepovers, Kylie navigates her changing friendships as her familiar formulas no longer compute. In particular, Naomi, who becomes quick to tease, lie, and keep secrets, makes Kylie wonder what kind of maturity she really wants. Throughout, Kylie's self-reflection and steady growth convey her abiding belief in honesty toward oneself and others, building a convincing and earnest arc for this endearing narrator. A meaningful and methodological story of friendship, family, and finding one's own voice.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(2) 4-6 Dee is struggling in sixth grade: she hears other girls gossiping about her appearance, sees her single mom flirting with her gym teacher, and feels like her best friend is ignoring her. Thayer dictates Dee's stream-of-consciousness observations through occasional mental lists that read like free verse ("in the future / stop asking so many questions! / stop talking so much!") and heightened sensory details (her school-bathroom refuge features cool-to-the-touch "wet-noodle" wall tiles and a leaky faucet's refrain of da-wip, da-wip) that define her perceptive, sensitive mindset. Dee finds unexpected comfort in commiserating with classmate Harry through a grate connecting the girls' and boys' bathrooms, and the vent inadvertently turns into a confession booth where students ask for Dee's help coping with their fears. These amateur advice sessions allow her to offer her classmates -- whose problems are mostly mundane and easily fixed -- some of the comfort and direction for which she also longs. Thayer champions the positive impact of Dee's kindness while demonstrating how ignoring her own anxieties only makes helping others more difficult. Most touching is an investigation of the parental impact on a child's views: after witnessing the negative behaviors that her peers inherited from their parents, Dee grows to appreciate her unconventional mother's support and the empathy she's been taught.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2025

(2) 4-6 Kevin Lee, a 1990s Chinese Canadian boy, struggles with being invisible among his peers, but somehow lands in the spotlight at the most embarrassing moments. When he brings preserved eggs to middle school for lunch, he becomes a laughingstock and gains the nickname "Egg Boy." Then in gym class he throws a basketball and accidentally hits the substitute teacher, knocking out a tooth. His parents' divorce doesn't make his life any easier: his older sister resents taking on extra responsibilities as she prepares for college, while his mother barely makes ends meet running an alterations shop. When Popo, his maternal grandmother, arrives from China, she reminds him that "today's pain is tomorrow's strength." Xu's coming-of-age graphic novel follows Kevin's ups and downs as he strives to fit in at school, get along with his sister, and help his mom. He takes refuge in a fantasy world of comics depicted by lively, action-packed panels -- a world that later comes to life at an amusement park. Amusing facial expressions and gestures capture the distinctive persona of each character and their interactions. Themes of sacrifice, survival, and love abound in a multidimensional story of navigating the bumpy terrain of family tensions and resilience across generations.

Reviewer: Jerry Dear | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili. Dotty and Other Dotty are a perfect match. The pair of yellow-spotted, pink, woolly mittens flaunt their partnership in front of lonesome single mitten Stripes. Drab and gray in both affect and appearance, Stripes has been relegated to her human's pocket ever since Other Stripes went missing. Rather than empathize with the lonesome mitten, Dotty and Other Dotty lord their assumed superiority over Stripes. "What's the use of a single mitten?" they sneer, sending Stripes into a mitt-sized existential crisis. But when Other Dotty is left behind in the snow and Stripes's long-lost partner is found, the mittens are forced to confront their behavior and their biases. Bailey's story of inclusion and acceptance balances any didacticism with a playful tone. "This is just weird," declares Dotty when paired with Stripes, and the illustration shows that visual clash. Rendered in acrylics and watercolor pencils, Shaloshvili's illustrations are soft and sweet, with colors befitting a gray winter's day and a child's cold, rosy cheeks. Justice is restored when our mitten-wearing (and losing) kid decides to mix and match her collection -- giving all her fuzzy friends an equal chance.

Reviewer: Hill Saxton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sophie Corrigan. Tommy aspires to be a pterodactyl when he grows up. Easy, right? When he announces his dream to the class, however, he is met with laughter from his classmates and dismissiveness from his killjoy teacher. The titular refrain is lobbed at Tommy throughout the day. He has answers to everyone's objections (to "There's no money in being a pterodactyl," he rejoins, "People will pay me to pick them up and fly them places"), but the teasing takes its toll. Luckily, Dad knows how to comfort and encourage his imaginative child. Corrigan's bouncy, cartoonlike illustrations feature simply drawn characters, with color and shading providing depth. After an evening of soaring around the backyard together with blankets as wings, Tommy's dad encourages him to follow his inner-pterodactyl dreams. Whether it be dino lovers or fans of prehistoric flying reptiles (as Tommy reminds us, pterodactyls are not dinosaurs), this story speaks to anyone who dreams of the seemingly impossible.

Reviewer: Hill Saxton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Henry Cole. In this folktale retelling, Pepe the parrot doesn't know what he's getting himself into when he invites his crush, Carina Felina, over for some homemade Cuban crackers. Carina, a fluffy aqua-colored feline with a Cheshire Cat grin, immediately polishes off all one hundred crackers. When Pepe protests, she proclaims, "Why, I'm Carina Felina! / I do what I like and / I eat what I wish. / Step out of my way, / or be my next dish!" and snarfs him down too. Carina then struts through town, eating anyone who doesn't heed her warning. She grows comically larger with every meal, and the cartoonlike illustrations show the people and animals inside her belly. The mayhem finally stops when two cangrejos--crabs who have been watching the whole time--goad her into eating them. In her stomach they declare, "!Basta! Enough!" They snip themselves and everyone else free, and Carina is left to stitch herself up. Deedy's catchy text is clever through the final playfully gruesome scene. Cole emphasizes the humor in the tale with pencil and digital illustrations that feature expressive townsfolk and animals. Storytime listeners will be chanting along with Carina's refrain by her second snack and will enjoy going back to search for the two cangrejos in each encounter. Back matter includes information about the folktale (told in many cultures), a glossary of Spanish words, and a recipe for Cuban crackers--bake at your own risk. Will be published in a Spanish paperback edition in September 2023 as El cuento de Carina Felina.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Theodore, III Taylor. "Why can't he put those books down, play football or basketball?" Garvey's father wants to turn him into an athlete, like his sister Angie, but Garvey would rather get lost in a book, listen to music, or dream about galaxies. In addition to pressure at home, he faces endless taunting at school for his weight. When Garvey meets the "skim-milk boy" Manny, who has albinism, he asks how Manny stands the teasing. "I look strange. No changing that. / Is there more to me? / Sure. Kids yell 'albino boy.' / I don't turn around. / Choose the name you answer to. / No one can do that but you." Per Grimes's author's note, this graphic-novel adaptation leaves two-thirds of the original book's (Garvey's Choice, rev. 9/16) tanka poems intact, with only small changes to the rest of them. The verses are given a new visual life with excellent page designs and clever illustrations, including the closing spread showing Garvey singing into a mic and his father playing the guitar, with floating musical notes uniting them in song. An unusually effective use of the graphic-novel format to bring poetry alive.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016; May, 2023

(1) K-3 As Harrison writes in her author's note, "In childhood, big is good. Big is impressive, aspirational. But somewhere along the way, the world begins to tell us something different: That big is bad. That being big is undesirable." Words matter, as a beautiful little Black girl learns. The girl, a dancer who wears a leotard and tutu throughout the book, "grew and learned and laughed...and grew and grew and grew. And it was good...until it wasn't." When she accidentally gets stuck in the baby swing on the school playground, her classmates and even her teacher hurl hurtful words and laughter, which begin to affect the youngster's self-esteem and self-perception. The text is spare but pointed; Harrison's emotionally powerful, pink-hued illustrations focus on her protagonist's inner experience. The girl looks like a giant in school and at dance class, "exposed, judged, yet invisible." The openness of the illustrations gives way to more cramped and overwhelming compositions as the girl, now in blue-gray, feels increasingly hemmed in by others' judgments--a visible statement about the impact of fatphobia and the adultification of Black children. This girl's story ends triumphantly; she takes her teacher's and classmates' hateful words and hands them back, saying, "These are yours. They hurt me." This book offers readers an opportunity to remember that we all deserve love and respect--no matter what size we are.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Dave Valeza. Color by Ash Szymanik. Rex is looking forward to starting middle school, but his sixth-grade year starts off poorly when he realizes he needs glasses. He's seen other kids being bullied for wearing glasses, and when he goes to school wearing them, Rex is, indeed, made fun of. Victor and his friends are unrelenting, calling him geek, nerd, weirdo, and, of course, four eyes. Victor is the cool guy, and his band of bullies gains popularity by association with him. Even Rex's best friend, Drew, abandons him in favor of Victor, who goes even further and makes fun of Rex's mother for being a waitress. However, after a long depiction of the ways and means of middle-school meanness, Ogle (Free Lunch) and Valeza give the story a positive turn. Rex's abuela tells him the story of the truly hard times of her childhood in Mexico, a few kids from his class who share his "nerdy" interests in comic books and Star Wars become friends, and even Drew returns to the fold. The graphic-novel format is used effectively in this story loosely based on Ogle's life. Sharply defined images become blurry to show readers how Rex sees things; when Abuela relates her childhood story, the colorful palette shifts to gray backgrounds to suggest the family's struggles; and several panels portray the verbal abuse Victor is subjected to by his father, implying why Victor himself has taken to bullying. Rex's glasses help him see more clearly, but listening to his parents, Abuela, and his friends helps him understand what's truly important.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) 4-6 This contemporary immigrant tale follows a Beijing girl as she reunites with her parents and younger sister in California after five years of separation. Lina Gao, ten, thinks that her father is a successful microbiologist who owns a big house. Reality kicks in when the fifth grader discovers that her father is a farm worker, the family lives in a cramped apartment, and her mother sells bath bombs online in hopes of covering the back rent. Yang does a skillful job in portraying Lina's multitude of emotions. There's the sadness of leaving her grandmother behind in a Chinese nursing home and the isolation and loneliness stemming from language barriers. Issues of racism and class come up when her parents struggle to be paid fairly and to get updates on their green card applications, Lina is teased at school, and a graphic novel with an Asian American protagonist is targeted for censorship. The most poignant scenes occur as Lina slowly removes the "invisible thread" that prevents her from freely expressing herself, especially when ESL teacher Mrs. Ortiz tells her that even though immigrants are "burdened with a lot of guilt," it is important to remember that "your dreams matter. You matter. Never forget that."

Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) 4-6 Translated by Julia Marshall. Illustrated by Ester Eriksson. Eleven-year-old Cricket keeps a journal describing her turmoil after a bout of chicken pox that kept her home from school for two weeks. During that time her best friend deserts her for "the horse girls," a cliquish set of mean girls who ride horses after school and tease her mercilessly. Additionally, her beloved aunt is hospitalized; she discovers letters from a man her mother loved before Cricket's father; and the only classmate who is kind to her suffers from an unrequited crush. Cricket's voice is strong, sometimes funny, often filled with pain: "When I think about the fun Noa and I used to have my chest hurts as if my heart is an overcooked potato about to become mash." Eriksson's ­prolific art, with strong black lines and distorted images, extends the sense of discomfort and anxiety that permeates the protagonist's writing. The horse girls, for example, are pictured with actual horse heads digging up Cricket's secrets from a graveyard. Originally published in Swedish, the novel successfully conveys the challenges both of navigating school and friendships and of making sense of a perplexing adult world.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) YA Illustrated by Joanna Cacao. Color by Amanda Lafrenais. Soontornvat shares an intimate glimpse into her youth in this coming-of-age graphic memoir. As one of the only Asian American students in her small-town Texas middle school, she endures the typical experiences of children of immigrants in a white, homogenous town: mispronunciation of a "foreign" name; teasing and disgust around "smelly" packed lunches; the reduction of one's identity to "rice girl." Fortunately, Christina has a best friend in fellow outsider Megan, whose father is from Iran. Christina and Megan both want desperately to be chosen for the school's cheerleading squad, and Soontornvat immerses readers in their months of intense practice, shown in the dynamic cartoony illustrations. Both girls ace the tryout, but neither makes it; as a heartbroken Christina muses, maybe everyone saw them as just "too different." By pushing herself to try new activities such as Impromptu Speaking (and with support from family, friends, and the "uncles" at her parents' Thai restaurant), she begins to grow more confident, deriving strength from her community. Here, she shares her story: a "story that needed to be told" for a "young person who needed to read it."

Reviewer: Gabi K. Huesca | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bonnie Lui. Timid Chinese American ghost Mimi wishes she looked like all the other ghosts. On the first day haunting a new school, she is ridiculed by the popular ghouls because of the "old-fashioned," traditional Chinese garb her relatives insist she wear. But when clique leader Lisette steals Mimi's look, Mimi stops being a "good Chinese girl ghost" and behaves like a very scary ghoul indeed--all ending with an apology from Lisette that leads to new friendships. The text of this caught-between-two-cultures ghost story contains much wordplay ("It isn't long before Mimi and her ghoulmates model all kinds of haunt couture"), and the illustrations capture Mimi's early misery and later empowerment.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Colin Jack. In this Dragons from Mars follow-up, young Nathaniel informs the two mythical visitors to Earth that it's their first day of school, too. Once again, Aronson's rhymes are rock-solid ("Maybe they've never seen dragons before. / What if they're frightened and run for the door?"), and the dragons, given an appealingly cartoonish mien, can stand in for anyone with new-situation anxiety.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Pencil and her friends give Eraser no respect: they taunt her for not being "creative." Tired of playing "Pencil's pooper-scooper," Eraser splits the scene and unexpectedly encounters some discarded papers that remind her of her importance: she gives second chances. Set inside a school bereft of humans, the story delivers ticklish wordplay against ink and watercolor art starring comically anthropomorphized desk mainstays.

Reviewer: Nell Beram