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Long Distance by Whitney Gardner

| Tasha
Cover image for Long Distance.

Long Distance by Whitney Gardner (9781534455665)

The author of Fake Blood returns with another fantastical graphic novel. Vega’s parents have moved her from Portland to Seattle, leaving behind her best friend. Vega loves astronomy, something she shared with her best friend. She still has her telescope, but no one to watch the stars with. To help her transition to her new home, Vega’s parents send her off to a summer camp designed to help her make new friends. Vega isn’t interested in making new friends, so she is stand offish to the other kids. As things around camp get stranger, including a camper who changes his appearance regularly to try to make friends, rocks that are speakers, no cellphone service, and really strange food, Vega must join forces with the other campers to figure out what is actually going on.

Gardner’s middle-grade graphic novel is a genuine look at moving away from friends and the struggle to regain your footing and make new ones. Gardner though takes it much farther explaining the weirdness of all summer camp experiences in a fresh way. When all is revealed at the end of the book, readers will have the satisfaction of having figured it out along with Vega and the other characters. The pacing of the different elements is nicely done as is the consistent look at loneliness and friendship throughout.

Gardner’s art style is bold and clear. She offers readers a diverse cast of characters, including Vega herself who is a character of color and also has two fathers for parents. The format feels larger than most with some of the images taking up the entire page with great impact. The entire book feels effortlessly modern.

A perfect summer read, particularly for those who have done summer camps. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Simon & Schuster.

Stella’s Stellar Hair by Yesenia Moises

| Tasha

Stella’s Stellar Hair by Yesenia Moises (9781250261779)

Stella’s hair was not doing what she wanted at all. It was the day of the Big Star Little Gala, so Stella wanted her hair to be special. Her mother suggested that Stella visit her Aunt Ofelia who lived on Mercury for a special style. So Stella hopped onto her hoverboard and headed over. Aunt Ofelia gave her a soft and elegant style, but Stella wasn’t sure it worked for her. Next she visited Aunt Alma on Venus, who created a straight lion’s mane style that took up too much space. Then she tried Aunt Rubi on Mars who gave her a crown of hair that was a bit too much for Stella. Auntie Cielo on Jupiter splashed around while Aunt Iris on Saturn gave Stella space buns. On Uranus, her twin aunts, twisted and braided. Neptune’s visit got her waves. Finally, Stella ended up with her Aunt Solana near the sun, who encouraged her to see her wild hair as a positive. Stella finally incorporated all of the elements of her aunt’s styles into her own plus some of her very own curls too.

Full of positivity, this book celebrates the many, many ways that Black hair can be styled with real flair. It’s great to see a science fiction picture book that focuses on a Black girl exploring the universe and visiting Black women for support. The ending with a focus on individuality and self-expression sets just the right tone of encouragement too. Turn to the back of the book for some information on the different planets in our solar system.

The art is bright and vibrant with the various Black women characters wearing their hair in all sorts of colors and styles. It’s great and funny to see them each style Stella in their own preferred style, until she reaches the final aunt who tells her to be herself.

Inclusive and vibrant, this book explains that we all need to simply be proud of who we are and what our hair does. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Macmillan.

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin

| Tasha

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin (9780823446230)

Looking at relative size, Chin begins this exploration of how small we actually are in the universe by bringing in 8-year-olds, ostriches and giraffes. Those are soon dwarfed with the tallest trees on Earth, then the tallest buildings. Soon though the mountains fill the page. Chin then takes the reader into space to first view the entire planet and then orbits. Move out to the galaxy level and look at the Milky Way. Then how far away is the Andromeda galaxy or galaxy clusters! Pull out even farther and you can see the cosmic web, chains of galaxies and millions of light-years long. Chin then takes us right back to green grass, 8-year-olds and a starry night.

Chin grips readers’ attentions right away as he quickly moves through what are tall animals and then on to other tall things on earth. Using layered narrative with additional facts along margins and embedded in the images, Chin offers plenty of information in this nonfiction picture book. One the book enters space, Chin manages to keep perspective for everyone, using measurements for comparisons and touchpoints that let us see where we small humans on Earth actually are.

Throughout the book, he makes breathtaking visual comparisons. Just seeing Mount Everest compared to the tallest buildings in the world is remarkable. The space section of the book is filled with stars, spirals of galaxies and the observable universe. These are difficult concepts, but Chin’s art allows readers to begin to think about them, stretching their minds.

A marvel of a nonfiction book, it invites us to understand our size in the universe but also how amazing the universe actually is. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Neal Porter Books.

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

| Tasha

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly (9780062747303)

Welcome to 1986, the year of the Challenger disaster and a year when all three of the Thomas children find themselves in seventh grade together. Fitch and Bird are twins and used to be very close. Bird loves science and exploring how things are made. As the Challenger nears its launch, she finds herself spellbound by the potential it represents for women in space and for her own future. Fitch meanwhile is struggling to deal with the anger that rises inside of him constantly, filling his days playing Major Havoc in the local arcade. Cash has been held back a grade and no longer plays basketball, which he misses desperately. He finds himself wondering if he is actually good at anything at all in life. The three siblings grow up in a family that is filled with anger, regular arguments and verbal abuse. As the three grow apart, circumstances including the Challenger disaster pull them back together, just in time to allow them all to find a potential way forward.

Kelly is a Newbery Medalist and this book shows her skill and superb understanding of the minds of youth. Using the setting of the mid-1980’s, she invites readers to see that while some things are different, much of the emotions, family tensions and life was the same as today. The Challenger disaster provides the ideal unifying factor in each of the sibling’s stories which are told from their own points of view. Yet Kelly does not overplay that element, never drawing the lines starkly but allowing readers to connect elements themselves.

The three siblings are quite different from one another and yet their shared upbringing and lack of safety at home create a unified experience that they all emerge from in different ways. Bird, the smart one, who takes things apart and does well at school, wonders if she is disappearing. Fitch burns with an anger he can’t explain, lashing out at others. Cash too is frustrated but he takes it out on himself and struggles internally.

A deep and magnificent middle-grade novel. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Greenwillow Books.

Child of the Universe by Ray Jayawardhana

| Tasha

Child of the Universe by Ray Jayawardhana

Child of the Universe by Ray Jayawardhana, illustrated by Raul Colon (9781524717551)

This picture book takes the science of how atoms move through the universe and then shows how that makes us all very special. Through the eyes of one father and his child, each of us is celebrated for our connection to stars, planets and the entire universe. The story is told in lyrical verse that connects the child to the sun, the moon and faraway planets. The little girl’s features and hair are all compared to the Milky Way and the shine of the cosmos, inextricably tying them to one another. This book will have us all delighting in the iron in our blood, the calcium in our bones and the stars in the sky. 

Jayawardhana’s text in this picture book is evocative and lovely, inviting everyone to think of their own connection to the universe. Combining this poetic approach with the science behind it in his Author’s Note, this book really allows children to imagine themselves as an integral and unique part of a much larger system, dreaming beyond the earth.

Colon’s art is jaw dropping in this picture book. He takes readers to other planets, frozen and barren but then lights the skies with new planets, galaxies and stars. He fill the bodies visually with the swirl of stars and planets and then juxtaposes humans into these wild and beautiful worlds he has created. 

A stellar look at our connection to the universe. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Make Me a World. 

Review: Small World by Ishta Mercurio

| Tasha

Small World by Ishta Mercurio

Small World by Ishta Mercurio, illustrated by Jen Corace (9781419734076)

Nanda was born into the circle of her mother’s loving arms. As she grew, her world grew too. It grew to include more circles, branches in trees, blocks, steel, and cogs. Her world got bigger as she traveled to college where she built her own helicopter and then became a pilot. Her world continued to grow as she roared into the atmosphere aboard a space shuttle. She was bigger than she had ever been before when she stood on the moon’s surface and looked at the stars above her and Earth glowing in the sky.

Mercurio’s prose plays with perspective right from the first pages. She also includes shapes and components of engineering into Nanda’s childhood. A girl fascinated with science and engineering becomes an astronaut in this book that offers an inspiring look at a girl who grows up as her world grows around her.

The illustrations play with shapes on every page, from the patterns of trees and their branches to the quilt below plane wings made up of farmland. Even the stars above form circles at the end of the book along with Earth, guiding readers right back to the circle that the book started with.

An inspiring look at a young girl of Indian descent who reaches the stars. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Abrams Books for Young Readers.

 

Review: Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman

| Tasha

Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman

Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Heather Fox (9781250303172)

The book begins with the prediction that on Friday, Llama will destroy the world. On Monday, it all began with Llama eating far, far too much cake. On Tuesdays Llama dances, so he tried to put on his dancing pants. He had to squeeze in to them because they didn’t quite fit due to the amount of cake he had eaten the day before. His pants ripped, creating a sound loud enough to enter space and create a black hole. On Wednesday, Llama noticed the black hole, did scientific calculations and then made a sandwich instead of letting anyone know. On Thursday, signs of doom started appearing everywhere. On Friday, everything was sucked into the black hole. But what will happen on Saturday?

I love that the entire plot of the book is laid out in the title and again on the first page. Llama is going to destroy the world and it will happen on Friday. That hangs over the head of the reader, creating a sense of real drama. It also allows the book to head in a wild and zany direction that is incredibly engaging and that only gets sillier as the week continues. The ending is a great twist in a book that looks a physics, time and space.

Fox’s illustrations are so funny. Llama has googly eyes and a comical face with plenty of expression. The different elements of the story are given heft and drama by the illustrations, including the ripped pants, the pile of cake, and of course, the black hole.

Funny, scientific and zany, this picture book is so much fun. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy provided by Henry Holt & Company.

Review: The Book in the Book in the Book by Julien Baer

| Tasha

The Book in the Book in the Book by Julien Baer

The Book in the Book in the Book by Julien Baer, illustrated by Simon Bailly (9780823442430)

This picture book features three nested books, each smaller than the last. Thomas and his parents are on vacation at the beach in the first and largest book. His parents decide to take a nap and Thomas is bored, so he heads off and explores the beach. When he can’t find his parents, he stops and sits down, noticing a small book abandoned in the sand. He opens it and discovers the story of Thomas who is on vacation with his parents in the snowy mountains. His parents take a nap; Thomas wanders off. Thomas can’t find them and notices a book nearby. When he opens it, he discovers the story of Thomas and his family visiting outer space. Each book ends with Thomas finding his family right near him and as the smaller books close, the reader is once again back in the beach story and the family heads home.

Originally published in France, this book is very unique and exploring it for the first time is a remarkable experience. The nesting of the books physically represents the way that the stories nest together, rather like a Russian nesting doll where the smaller ones are on the inside. Still, in these books the stories get wider ranging as the books shrink down. The text is simple and accessible, feeling almost like a vintage tale until the nesting begins.

The art and book design here are fantastic. The nested books even feel right inside the larger images that form a frame around them. Each book has a cover that represents what is inside it, much like the main cover does with the boy in snow gear reading on a beach under a ringed planet.

Clever and funny, this is a rewarding book to explore. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Holiday House.

Review: Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks

| Tasha

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks (9781368008440)

Living on Wilnick, an outdated and aging space station at the end of the galaxy could be dull, but not for best friends Sanity and Tallulah. Sanity, who has always wanted a pet despite rules against having one, decides to create one herself. It turns out to be a very cute three-headed kitten with a taste for meat. The kitten manages to escape soon after Tallulah’s mother finds out that she exists. The girls set out to find out whether the problems that are happening across the space station are the fault of one cute kitten or maybe it’s something else. Meanwhile, there seems to be a very large monster on the loose and the coolant tank appears to have been drunk dry. As disaster looms aboard the space station, it’s up to Sanity to save the day thanks to the technology she explored when creating her illegal pet.

Brooks sets exactly the right tone in this graphic novel. The girls best friends who tend to talk one another into getting into even more trouble while trying to fix what they have already done. Add in a three-headed kitten and mayhem follows. The two girls could not be more different, which makes for an odd-couple chemistry between them. The story is fast paced and a delightful mix of STEM and girl power.

The art in the book is done in a limited color palette with pinks and deep blues. The art brings to life the space station and its size, conveying the hazards of keeping it functional while giving the girls a lot of space to run into trouble. The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse and that extends to all of the people who live aboard the space station.

A strong graphic novel with plenty of appeal. Appropriate for ages 9-12

Reviewed from library copy.