August 19, 2025 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Brooke is happy when her mother, Wendy, marries Terrance, because he is her best friend Jayla's father! Now, the four get to travel around in an RV, visiting national parks while the parents do conservation research. Brooke is very interested in nature, and keeps a very detailed journal of all of the animals she encounters. She has an extensive bucket list, but has yet to see a moose! For her birthday, she is given an infrared trail camera, and when she and Jayla set it up, they see some really interesting activity, including a fox and a baby owl. When Jayla sees a moose swimming in the river, Brooke is a little jealous of her new sister, but the two make up quickly. They also go off the trails to look for animals, which doesn't end well, and they learn a lesson about observing safety protocols.
This was a very fun graphic novel, and I loved the illustration style. There are a lot of pages that show the inside of the RV that made me a little nostalgic for the travel trailer my parents had when I was young. There's lots of information about plants and animals, and good tips about best practices in nature. This was a lot more upbeat than most graphic novels, so I will purchase a copy, and definitely would recommend this for an elementary library.
The Nefarious Nights of Willowweep Manor (Willowweep Manor #2)
August 12, 2025 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
After her adventures in The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, Haley is rethinking her allegiance to an entirely Gothic wardrobe. After trying to present about gasket universes (using puppets!) to her physics class, she is relieved to go back to Willowweep Manor. Things go wrong, however, when Sybil, the hermitess, manages to get a transmission from another gasket universe and several people show up, although Sybil goes missing. Crickets, a fop, Mayberry, a butler, Miss Meadowsweet, Colonel Shotcroft, and Miss Harewood, a capable young lady, all descend on the manor. As they intereact with the residents, the manor starts to change. Miss Meadowsweet conjures up a conservatory where she can knit, and libraries and billiards rooms also pop up. The group claims to be the only survivors from their universe after "the War" has decimated it. When Shotcroft is found murdered, Haley starts to understand that instead of a Gothic universe, the new arrivals are from a mystery universe. In addition to solving the mystery of Shotcrofts death, she must deal with the manor dissolving into nothingness, and the disappearance of Sybil.
I'm not sure how many of my students are well versed in the works of Wentworth, Sayers, or Christie, but those of us who know those mysteries well will understand the stock characters and appreciate how they are given new opportunities. I was glad that the knitting shown was fairly well done. Hand this to fans of Aldridge's The Pale Queen or Blasco and Springer's graphic adaptation of the Enola Holmes books.
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