Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

5 stars A delightful ghost story centered around friendship and growing up. This book is absolutely beautiful! I loved every moment of it. It is sweet, relatable, gut-wrenching, and heartwarming all rolled into one gorgeous package. The artwork is fantastic. I really enjoyed the cozy art style and Yee perfectly captures the emotions of her…

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When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

5 stars A heartfelt book recounting Omar Mohamed’s experiences growing up in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. The book goes through Mohamed’s daily life and long-term struggles including taking care of his brother, arguments with friends, trying to get an education in the camp, learning English, coping with food shortages, fighting for resettlement in…

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I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916: The Graphic Novel (I Survived: Graphic #2) by Lauren Tarshis, Adapted by Georgia Ball, Art by Haus Studio

2 stars Okay read. I’ve since gone back and read the original novel and found the original to be a less sensationalized account. The artwork in this is too over-the-top. The incorporation of historical facts into a fictionalized story was interesting. Tarshis gives Chet a whole backstory and his own struggles outside the shark storyline,…

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Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

4 stars Another winner from Brosgol! In this part-memoir graphic novel, Brosgol tackles her time at Russian summer camp, complete with mean tent-mates, horrific outhouses (aka the Hollywood), new friends, run-ins with wild animals, camp competitions, reluctantly getting caught up in drama, and the desire to belong. Brosgol doesn’t shy away from some of the…

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The Cardboard Kingdom (The Cardboard Kingdom #1) by Chad Sell, Jay Fuller, David Demeo, Katie Schenkel, Manuel Betancourt, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Cloud Jacobs, Michael Cole, Barbara Perez Marquez, & Kris Moore

4 stars Ten authors pair up with Chad Sell to create interconnected stories from the world of the Cardboard Kingdom. Sell does the artwork throughout, giving it consistency while letting the characters and authors shine. Reality and fantasy converge as the neighborhood kids play their way through summer, making new connections and learning lessons along…

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Bad Island by Doug TenNapel

3 stars TenNapel’s world building never disappoints. In this case it’s an island with strange plants, a mysterious origin, and an overabundance of creatures that want to kill you. This may go down as the worst family vacation ever, but at least it brought them closer in the end. Danger, adventure, humor, and fast-paced fun….

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