Five Graphic Novels

I read five graphic novels this Shabbat. 

Marshmallow and Jordan is a beautiful book about a girl from Indonesia who loves basketball but can't play on her school's team anymore after an accident leaves her paralyzed from the waist down. She befriends a young white elephant, who is more than what he seems. I was a little annoyed that the big reveal was left to the end of the book and told instead of shown, but it's still a delightful graphic novel. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Allergic was my favorite of the graphic novels I read this Shabbat. It's about a girl who loves animals more then anything, until she gets a puppy for her tenth birthday and discovers she's very allergic to anything with fur or feathers. Still, she never gives up on her dream. She just has to tweak it a little. This is a great slice-of-life middle-grade graphic novel, similar in style to Sisters and Smile by Raina Telgemeier, and it teaches kids about how allergies should be taken seriously. Highly recommended 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The other three books were the last three in the 5 Worlds series. This is a beautifully drawn sci-fi series about a young sand-dancer who needs to light the five beacons on the five worlds in her planetary system to save from it multi-planet global warming. Oona makes friends along the way, and together they set out to accomplish the impossible.

While the plot was fun and exciting, and the art beautiful, I do feel that some things were missing. Some of the science is wrong. (I hope kids who read the series don't come away thinking it's possible to live inside a star.) And Oona doesn't feel authentically female. In the past, I might have been okay with that, but not today when there are so many women writing terrific graphic novels starring authentic girls. The main characters are also impetuous sometimes, which I feel is kind of an insult to kids, and sometimes the characters are just too lucky, finding exactly what they need in the unlikeliest of places. It's still a delightful series, though. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

And that's it for this week!