Saturday Morning Cartoons- Diana: Princess of the Amazons

Hale, Shannon and Hale, Dean. Diana: Princess of the Amazons
January 7th 2020 by DC Zoom
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Diana should be enjoying her life on Themiscyra, but as the only child in the Amazon community, she is rather lonely, especially since her mother is frequently busy running things. After helping with some clay projects, she takes some discarded clay to the beach, and inspired by her own creation story, forms a friend from clay and sand and attempts to breathe life into her. She is surprised the next day to find her creation, Mona, roaming the woods, but glad to have a friend. The two have all kinds of fun, although Mona has quite an eye for mischief. Mona also feeds Diana's insecurities that the other Amazons don't consider her one of them, and goads Diana into sailing to an island where the Amazons are guarding the portal to Tartarus, where monsters are imprisoned. Surprised that she is able to open the door, Diana starts to realize that perhaps Mona isn't the best friend to have. The Amazon guards are unable to defeat the monsters, so Diana goes to light the signal fire. Mona says she will do it so that Diana's deception is not found out, but she doesn't. Needless to say, reinforcements help, and the monsters are banished once again. Mona turns out to be someone with whom Diana should not have been dealing, but the experience brings her and her mother closer together.
Strengths: As a former Latin teacher, I can't get enough books about Greece and Rome to share with 7th grade students as part of their social studies curriculum. This book is perfectly formatted for fans of Holm, Jamieson and Telgemeier, with the right text to picture ratio, colorful, expressive pictures, and fast paced story. There's also the DC lure; Wonder Woman IS the best super hero, hands down! This will fly off the shelves.
Weaknesses: Students won't care, but I was bothered by how Mona was able to inveigle Diana into misdeeds. Surely Wonder Woman was smarter than that, even at a young age. It was also hard to believe that her mother and the Amazon community didn't take better care of her. But that's just me.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and this will circulate well even though (oddly) DC and Marvel tie ins often don't do well in my library. This will be the exception.