Review of The Girl Who Sang, by Estelle Nadel and Sammy Savos

Award Winners, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

The Girl Who Sang

A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival

by Estelle Nadel
with Sammy Savos and Bethany Strout
art by Sammy Savos

Roaring Brook Press, 2024. 264 pages.
Review written February 18, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Sidney Taylor Gold Medal, Middle Grades
2025 Sibert Honor Book
2025 Best Children’s Graphic Novels Top Ten

The Girl Who Sang is a memoir about the Holocaust in graphic novel form. And yes, rather amazingly, the author makes it a story of hope and survival.

Enia was the youngest of five kids living on a farm in a village in Poland. But then the Germans came, and they had to go into hiding. Enia ended up hiding in different attics from when she was five to when she was ten. And she lost all but two of her brothers during the war.

But she makes this book about the good people who helped save their lives along the way, and about the joy of being free after the war and building a new life in America.

And through all of it, she has always loved to sing.

This book did tear my heart into pieces, and I sure didn’t think the little girl would survive in spots. But this tells the story from a child’s viewpoint, and can be a way to tell children about that dark time in history.

sammysavos.com
mackids.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Squad, by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

The Squad

written by Christina Soontornvat
illustrated by Joanna Cacao
colors by Wes Dzioba

Graphix (Scholastic), 2024. 288 pages.
Review written December 11, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

I have long maintained that graphic novels are the absolutely perfect format for memoirs of middle school. You can show all the emotion in its exaggerated immediacy and let kids today know that middle school has been the way it is since long before they had to deal with it. In The Tryout, Christina Soontornvat expressed the aggravation and terror of trying out for cheerleader in front of the entire seventh grade class. The Squad covers eighth grade, and she and her two best friends decide to try out again. This time, they will also perform before a panel of adult judges, so it doesn’t all rest on what the other students think.

But on top of that tense situation, Christina learns that her parents are splitting up. She tries to put on a happy face, even works on plans to get them back together, but ultimately she and her mother move out of their house to an apartment, and her mother starts working much more of the time.

The Squad portrays Christina’s anger and frustration over that situation, as well as her first crush, her first kiss, frustrations with racist kids, friendship conflicts, and all the other things that go with being in middle school.

Another classic middle school graphic memoir.

soontornvat.com
scholastic.com/graphix

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Pizza Face, by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

Pizza Face

by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Graphix, 2024. 222 pages.
Review written October 3, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

I continue to maintain that graphic novels are the absolutely perfect format for middle school memoirs – the perfect way to express the angst we all went through.

In this follow up to Four Eyes, the morning Rex starts seventh grade, a giant pimple erupts in the center of his forehead – the first of many. So yeah, this is a graphic novel about a boy beginning to go through puberty, and feeling behind everyone else – he was only twelve in seventh grade, but his friends were all thirteen or turning thirteen. So he was the smallest, had the least hair, and had the highest voice.

And then come the bullies, the misunderstandings with friends, the saying something to try to be cool that hurts a friend’s feelings – and we’ve got a classic story of middle school angst.

There’s plenty of nuance going on here, such as becoming friends with the biggest kid in seventh grade, who starts out pushing Rex around, but ends up confessing he feels out of place, too. And gaining some insight about another bully when they’re both on in-school suspension.

This story captures the despair and hope of middle school, and does it with humor and compassion.

rexogle.com

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Review of Homebody, by Theo Parish

Biography, Graphic Memoir, Teen Nonfiction 0

Homebody

by Theo Parish

HarperAlley, 2024. 224 pages.
Review written June 7, 2024, from a library book.

Homebody is a graphic novel memoir about the author’s search for home in their own body — their coming-out journey as transgender nonbinary.

I’ll be honest — it’s harder for me to understand nonbinary gender than other transgender journeys. But Theo telling their own story helps me understand better. I love their depictions of gender euphoria — of feeling happy and at home in their own skin after realizing that nonbinary was the right fit for them.

As a graphic novel, this is a quick read. I had trouble distinguishing between different people in the pictures — they mostly looked alike to me, but the most important character is Theo themselves, and I could tell which one they were.

This book tells about Theo’s journey feeling at home in their body, and mentions they are attracted to women (so first thought they were lesbian), but there is no mention or depiction of sexual experiences, unlike Gender Queer, which is a favorite target for book banners. I’m guessing they’ll still take offense at someone explaining how they know nonbinary is the right description of their gender, but let it be known that this book is not about sex.

And it is a book about joy. Reading this book lifted my heart with gladness for Theo learning to make her own body feel like home.

EpicReads.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of ¡Ay, Mija! by Christine Suggs

Biography, Graphic Memoir, Teen Nonfiction 0

¡Ay, Mija!

My Bilingual Summer in Mexico

by Christine Suggs

Little, Brown and Company, 2023. 328 pages.
Review written April 27, 2023, from a library book

¡Ay, Mija! Is one of those wonderful creations – a graphic novel memoir looking back on what it was like to be a teen figuring things out.

In this book, Christine Suggs tells about traveling on their own to visit their mother’s family in Mexico. Their Spanish wasn’t very good at the start, but they loved these people, and that love was returned. We see them carrying out more interactions as the visit goes on.

They also, naturally enough, have questions about their identity. They see things in their Mexican family that they’ve inherited, like a love of pan dulce. But their father is a pale white American, and their skin is lighter than any of their relatives in Mexico. And their Spanish isn’t very good, so they don’t always understand what their relatives are saying.

I love their drawing style, simple and loose. I could mostly keep track of who was who, and I enjoyed the little character they used to express their own thoughts and feelings in dialog.

I have never taken a Spanish class, though when I was in grad school I lived in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Los Angeles, and part of the time reading this book felt like that. I started to let the Spanish words rush over me. Though I think that accurately reflects how the author felt.

I do think this book would be perfect for someone who’s studied Spanish a little bit and would help them progress. There are a few English translations given, but mostly what’s on the page progresses as Christine progresses – and I was left a little behind by that. Though in a graphic novel, the pictures convey enough of the story, I didn’t feel lost. So I do think this strategy worked for this book, even though for me personally I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I would have if I felt like I understood more of the words used.

But even with my lack of Spanish slowing me down, I still thought this was a lovely story of making family connections and a teen making their way outside their comfort zone.

christinesuggs.com

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Review of That Can Be Arranged, by Huda Fahmy

Graphic Memoir, Nonfiction Review, True Stories 0

That Can Be Arranged

A Muslim Love Story

by Huda Fahmy

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020. 175 pages.
Review written August 10, 2020, from a library book

That Can Be Arranged is a sweet and funny graphic memoir about how the author found love – and an arranged marriage – at the ripe old age of 25.

She clears up several myths about Muslim culture and arranged marriages in general. She makes some funny observations about the men she encountered before she found her future husband, including some her father ruled out – which turned out to be a very good thing.

This is a quick read, and it has just the right dose of humor. We’ve got a universal quest – to find love – and it’s fun to see the things that were the same – and different – for a modern American girl from a Muslim community.

You can tell by the cover that things end happily for Huda, and the reader will cheer. Or perhaps perform zagharit.

andrewsmcmeel.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!

Review of Mexikid, by Pedro Martín

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Mexikid

A Graphic Memoir

by Pedro Martín

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2023. 316 pages.
Review written January 3, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Newbery Honor Book
2024 Pura Belpré Award Winner for Illustrator and Author
2024 Odyssey Award Honor Audiobook
2023 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #8 Children’s Nonfiction

It’s no secret that I think graphic novel memoirs celebrating middle school years are the best thing ever. In this one, the author looks to be a little younger than middle school, and he and his family went on an amazing adventure. Pedro’s the 7th of 9 children, and his whole family hit the road in a Winnebago in 1977 and drove to Mexico to pick up his Abuelito and bring him back to California. Hijinks ensue.

Honestly, I can’t do justice to all that’s in here. Pedro loves to draw, and imagines his Abuelito as a superhero, based on the stories of his time during the Mexican Revolution. But then when he sees Abuelito, he does some feats of amazing strength.

Seriously, if you don’t think traveling in a Winnebago with a whole bunch of kids has all kinds of funny things to write about, you’ve never done it. Hmm. My family did that a few years before Pedro’s family, when there were probably 8 kids. But we didn’t have to deal with crossing a border and getting toys confiscated and nothing to listen to except “Shipoopi.”

You’re going to have to trust me that this book is hilarious and fun and full of adventure, because I don’t even know how to start describing details. It’s also about family – siblings and cousins, parents and grandparents, and a classic road trip bringing them all together.

mexikid.com
Penguin.com/kids

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Four Eyes, by Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir 0

Four Eyes

by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Graphix (Scholastic), 2023. 222 pages.
Review written July 31, 2023, from a library book.

I’m always a fan of graphic novel memoirs about middle school – it’s the perfect format for expressing the emotions, the humiliations, the ups, and the downs. And it’s a format the target audience loves, so everything together makes it a great choice.

I’ve read Rex Ogle’s memoirs such as Free Lunch and was bracing for a portrayal of abuse. But this book, has a lighter feel and showed the loving side of his home life. Which I enjoyed seeing. His family helped him get through these middle school difficulties.

What he did have to put up with was needing glasses at the start of middle school and not being able to afford a good pair.

Now, I wore glasses from fourth grade on. I don’t remember ever being bullied or even teased about them. Nor do I remember feeling different because of them. It was strange for me to see a school portrayed where Rex was the only one wearing glasses. Though maybe it felt that way.

So I took that with a grain of salt. However, the part about Rex’s best friend making friends with the cool kids — and those kids at the top of the pecking order finding reasons to reject Rex — that part made sense. And then I could believe that his glasses caused social stigma. Add to that the glasses getting broken and having to use tape to hold them together… and yeah this is the relatable stuff you can expect to find in middle school graphic novel memoirs.

May it, too, help kids know they’re not alone.

rexogle.com

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Review of Banned Book Club, by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada, art by Ko Hyung-Ju

Biography, Graphic Memoir, History, Teen Nonfiction 0

Banned Book Club

written by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada
art by Ko Hyung-Ju

Iron Circus Comics, 2020. 198 pages.
Review written September 22, 2020, from a library book

I didn’t realize until I’d finished the book that this is a graphic memoir, not a graphic novel. Even thinking it was a novel, I realized I had no idea that free speech had been suppressed in South Korea in 1983. This book points out that I need to separate out nonfiction for teens from my children’s nonfiction page – this has gritty and difficult material, more suitable for teens and adults than children. [Note: I’m posting this much later, and did, in fact, make a page for Teen Nonfiction.]

The setting is South Korea, 1983. Yes, that’s South Korea, not North Korea. I had to go back and check. Hyun Sook was a teen wanting to start college. Her mother didn’t want her to go because there had been student protests, which were being stopped by the government. Her father was supportive, so she does head off to school, trying to separate herself from the protesters.

Sure enough, when Hyun Sook gets to college, she tries to stay out of trouble. She even joins a Masked Folk Dance Team to do something that’s not political. But she learns that they do folk dances with stories that have political ramifications and are a cover for protests. Then the friends she makes on the team pull her into a Banned Book Club with a contact at a bookstore who gets them banned books.

I was amazed at the range of books that they were not permitted to read. Both western literature and Communist literature from North Korea were on the list. There is a spy in the group, and some of her friends get arrested and beaten and she herself gets interrogated by police and I won’t say more about the plot to not give spoilers. I will say that I was shocked by basic freedoms that were violently repressed.

The book ends with a reunion of the Banned Book Club in 2016. We learn about the history of fascism in South Korea when one of her friends outlines the protests he’s been part of since 1983. In 2016, they were protesting for the removal of a president who was the daughter of the dictator they protested against in 1983.

A note on the final page tells us what happened after the close of this book:

In March 2017, President Park Geun-Hye was impeached, removed from office, and imprisoned for corruption. The final vote was struck by her own judges, many of whom she had personally placed in office. A special election was held, and the new president was Moon Jae-in.

This book is frightfully timely and tells a true story of fascism that is not from 1930s Germany. It makes the reader value their freedom to read and freedom to speak up. May we never let those go. Please don’t tolerate book banning, whatever the excuse.

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Source: This review is based on a book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Muhammad Najem, War Reporter, by Muhammad Najem and Nora Neus, illustrated by Julie Robine

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

Muhammad Najem, War Reporter

How One Boy Put the Spotlight on Syria

by Muhammad Najem
and Nora Neus
illustrated by Julie Robine
colors by Shin-Yeon Moon

Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 314 pages.
Review written May 10, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This amazing graphic memoir tells the story of a Syrian kid who decided to let the world know what was going on in Syria — from the perspective of kids who lived there.

The war in Syria began when he was only eight years old. When he was thirteen, his father was praying at the mosque and was killed by a missile. His father had always been one to listen to everyone he met. He’d bring home their stories and tell his kids, “Everyone has a story.”

So when Muhammad got to be fifteen, he wanted to imitate his father and tell the world the stories of kids still living in the war zone of Syria. He began taking videos and posting them online. People warned him not to show his face, but he wanted to prove that real kids were being affected by the fighting. He hoped if the world knew what was happening, they wouldn’t be forgotten.

And then one day, Nora Neus of CNN contacted Muhammad. It turned out to be a few days before a big siege of Eastern Ghouta, where he and his family lived. But they moved to another part of Syria during a cease-fire, and CNN did an online article about him. That article went viral, and the world began to pay attention. Though there’s plenty of tension, because the fame makes Muhammad a target, and throughout the book his life is in danger.

This graphic memoir tells Muhammad’s story in a riveting way. It’s a story of a kid making a difference while lives were being uprooted all around him.

muhammadnajem.com
noraneus.com
julierobine.com
lbyr.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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