Saturday Morning Cartoons

Okorafor, Nnedi and Ford, Tana (illus.) Space Cat
August 12, 2025 by First Second

E ARC provided by Netgalley
 

This was an interesting graphic novel about the secret life of Periwinkle, who in addition to being the author's cat, also has space adventures. These are presented in what I consider "comic book" format; episodic stories that don't necessarily tie together. The cat getting into a bottle of "alien" hot sauce was fairly amusing. I liked the Nigerian setting. 

The art was phenomenal, and I loved the use of color. For the flashback of Periwinkle being adopted, there is a nice sepia toned background, but pops of color for people and the cat. The space adventures are largely blue and purple.

I enjoyed this author's Ikenga, but haven't read any of her other books. This would be a good choice for readers who enjoyed Barnett and Harris' The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, Cody and Mercado's Cat Ninja Venable and Yu's Katie the Catsitter, Boothby and Matsumoto's Sparks! or Marciano et al.'s Klawde. Apparently, cats have more space adventures than I thought! (Especially if you include novels like Sorosiak's My Life as a Cat.)

Rosenberg, Zack, Fusté, Victor, and Turner, Sarah K. (illustrator)
T.S. Hullabaloo: A Graphic Novel Based on a (Mostly) True Story,
October 7, 2025 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Jack loves his hometown of Agoura Falls, and hopes to one day become mayor. He's always helping out others, but when he ends up with a "hullabaloo" right after his birthday, it causes chaos. Some people get these animal familiars, who might have a variety of talents, but T.S., Jack's hullabaloo, causes endless problems with his obnoxious antics. T.S. even manages to anger Jack's best friend. When school starts, Jack is assigned to a homeroom with other students who have hullabaloos, but none of them have the behavior problems that T.S. has. Ignoring T.S. just makes matters worse, and Jack finally has to deal with this factor in his life. An author's note at the end makes it clear that T.S. is allegorical, and stands for the Tourette's Syndrome.

This is a graphic novel that sheds light on some health concerns that middle grade readers might face, and is right at home with Page's Button Pusher, Steinke's Speechless, Fantaskey's Wires Crossed, Garcia and William's Mixed-Up, Briglio's Thunder Boom, or Larson's Very Bad at Math.