Little Monarchs

Little Monarchs

Jonathan Case

Holiday House, 2022

255 pages

Grades 3-Up

Graphic Novel

Our story opens in the year 2101, fifty-two years after the sun shifted and the terrible Sun Sickness wiped out most of the mammal population. Some underground mammals-and a few lucky humans who happened to be underground-survived. Now the remaining human population lives underground as "Deepers", that is, except Flora and ten-year-old Elvie. Flora is a scientist who discovered a thirty-six hour medication, extracted from monarch butterflies, that allows humans to be above ground. Flora is working on a permanent vaccination, but in the meantime she and Elvie travel the country following monarchs. Elvie's parents are presumed to be stranded in Mexico, where they left to find the migrating territory of the monarchs in order to extract large doses for the medication. Elvie's life is all wandering and science with only Flora for company when she finds a lone toddler. She leaves a secret note for Sito's people and he joins their little family. Sito's people find them--creating both community and peril. Will Elvie ever find her parents? Will Flora ever discover a vaccination? And most of all, will they survive this hostile environment?

Thinking that it's a contemporary beach story, this new graphic novel did not initially catch my eye. I picked it up based on the amount of positive reviews I kept coming across. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's dystopian with relevant ties to the pandemic we are currently still living through. The story is adventurous and STEM related, while still pulling at the heartstrings. With feminist underpinnings themes include loyalty, don't judge a book by it's cover, and environmental warnings. Author/illustrator, Case's, full-color illustrations are a little more mature than the average fare for this age group. The panels scan well and the book will be easily read by the target audience. Elvie is spunky and courageous and readers will enjoy spending some time with her on this adventure. Extra historical and scientific information is added through the conveyance of Elvie's journal and doesn't overwhelm the storytelling. This is a high-quality graphic novel for children that is also a lot of fun. Pass it to readers to give them a much-needed respite from The Babysitter's Club or Dogman.