Super Boba Cafe

Super Boba Cafe
Nidhi Chanani
Amulet, October, 2023
216 pages
Grades 4-7
Graphic Novel

Aria travels to San Francisco to spend time with her Grandmother, Nainai, to help out at her boba cafe. As much as they want to see the sights, much of the time is spent at the cafe. Aria has a great idea on how to expand the sleepy business after the store cat has kittens--inviting customers to play with kittens as they enjoy their boba. She also has ideas about expanding the flavor selection, but Nainai is reluctant to change. Both ladies have secrets. Eventually we find out the real reason that Aria was sent to San Francisco and that is one mystery solved. But why does Nainai escape to a backroom everyday and won't let Aria in? Eventually Aria discovers the truth behind Nainai's secret disappearances and how it all ties in with the very nature of the city. Can Aria help her in the mission to keep the city safe? And what is up with all the prairie dogs who arrive at the cafe's doorstep every evening? All secrets are revealed by book's end and Aria and Nainai learn to trust each other in order to fix past hurts and move forward into the future.

I feel like it's a boba summer! Everywhere I look a new shop or stand is opening, selling the delicious concoctions. As a huge fan of the drink, I absolutely had to read this upcoming graphic novel by one of my favorite creators of Pashmina fame. This is a story blending real-life problems (social media, friendship drama, loneliness, business troubles) with fantasy. The emergence of the boba monster, which explains away the San Francisco earthquakes, is pretty cool and unexpected. I easily made the transition into fantasy and was all in for the ride. Aria, who was beaten down by a horrible school year, finds her voice and courage as she battles the monster and increases business in Nainai's shop. Eventually, she allows herself to open herself again to others and make a friend. The illustrations are full-color, cartoon-like, and easily scanned. The target audience will appreciate the format, plot and delivery. Mystery undertones about the identity of the monster will keep readers turning pages up to the satisfying conclusion. Much like the titled drink, this new graphic novel is sure to be a hit!

Grounded

Grounded
Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, & S.K. Ali
Amulet, 2023
253 pages
Grades 4-7
Mystery

Four authors pen the voices of four different Muslim tweens who are "grounded" at a fictional airport after a national Muslim conference. All four young people are from different backgrounds and have never met, yet share the same religious identity, though are on different places of the path of their faith. Hanna, animal lover extraordinaire, is terrified of her father remarrying and is dodging any serious conversation with him. When she becomes aware that a cat is missing at the airport where she is stranded, it becomes her mission to locate poor Snickerdoodle, eventually pulling in the other kids. Feek is a budding rapper, much like his famous and way too busy father. He wants to hone his craft, except he is always having to mind his rambunctious little sister Raqi. Sami has little self-confidence and is riddled with anxiety. He only feels confident while practicing Karate, yet thanks to this change in plans, he is going to miss an important tournament. Nora's mother is an upper level politician, who is so busy that she can't get her only daughter's birthday right. That's okay-at least Nora has her NokNok followers who love her-or do they? Follow these four unlikely friends as they try to track down a missing cat, all while causing commotion at the airport.

Grounded presents a fun and diverting summer read, all while providing much needed Muslim representation in children's literature. The four voices are all unique and capture their characters effortlessly, all within the framework of a coherent story. The different authors/narrators manage to keep the plot moving without repetition, while providing ever-changing points of view to the action. At times suspenseful, while at other times sincere and heartbreaking, the authors also manage to inject humor to lighten some of the important messages of family dynamics, friends troubles, identity, and growing up. All of the characters are facing family problems, which they manage to work out with their grown-ups by book's end. Not everything is neatly sewn up, yet the reader is left with a sense of hope and the road to healing in every character's situation. And the cat? This umbrella plot is resolved in the best possible way with unexpected allies helping out and a very sweet reward as a payoff. Grounded is the perfect book to read while traveling and reads best in an airport. Toss a copy in the carry-on of your favorite tween.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Chris Grabenstein
Douglas Holgate, Illustrator
Random House, November, 2023
258 pages
Grades 3-6
Graphic Novel

Kyle Keeley loves games, especially those of eccentric hometown hero, Luigi Lemoncello. Kyle plays hard. He is even not afraid to break windows, if that means beating his brothers at games. When Mr. Lemoncello offers an essay contest to pick a group of kids to compete in an actual scavenger hunt within the walls of his new library, Kyle knows he has to win. Despite a remarkably lame essay, Kyle is chosen and is challenged to find the clues to escape the new library, which is housed in an old bank, where robbers escaped many years ago. Can Kyle solve the clues and puzzles to figure out the robber's escape route? Not alone he can't! Kyle teams up with some of the other contestants to create a team, proving that teamwork is dreamwork. Meanwhile, the class rich-kid/bully is also a competitor and will stop at nothing to win. Do Kyle and his team have a chance against Charles' dirty-dealings? State of the art technology, mind-busting puzzles, and even holograph librarians await in this now-classic library adventure.

Ten years after the publication of it's classic predecessor, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library gets the graphic novel treatment. The plot primarily stay the same, though a bit watered down, and the action never stops. Holgate's full-color illustrations match the lively nature of the text and will draw-in a new audience of reluctant readers. The characters are more or less how I saw them in my head and I enjoyed the graphic rendition. I love that Grabenstein gets reader's brains turning with puzzles to solve and clever puns hidden within the text in plain sight. I also like the messages of teamwork and fair play. The nice kids are rewarded and the sneaky ones punished. Kids appreciate that kind of justice. Readers will identify with underachieving Kyle, who serves as the perfect "every-man" in the competition. Ten years later the series continues to delight and this new rendition will connect with a whole new audience, who will (hopefully) continue on in the series of standard fiction.