Geo Librarian

  WISH I WAS A BALLER written by Amar Shah, illustrated by Rashad Doucet Graphix, 2025 ISBN: 9781339042442  Source: purchased eBook Ages 9-12 Genre : Historical fiction (based on author's memories) All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK BALLER is part NEW KID, part THE TRYOUT, and part DRAGON HOOPS Amar Shah has some story to tell! In 1995, he was a fourteen-year-old aspiring sports journalist (and basketball superfan) angling to get into an Orlando Magic team practice. He did, and it took him on the ride of his life! WISH I WAS A BALLER is a graphic memoir chronicling Amar's real-life experiences as a fourteen-year-old sports journalist covering the golden era of the NBA, when he befriended Shaq and hung out with Michael Jordan and the Bulls-all while surviving the high school caste system, dealing with crushes, and friendships being tainted by jealousy. REVIEW Amar Shah joins his...

  IRON MAN : SOMETHING STRANGE! A Mighty Marvel Team-Up #1 written by Dean Hale, illustrated Douglas Holgate Abrams Fanfare, 2025 ISBN: 978-1-4197-7459-1 Source: publisher for review! Ages 8-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK Iron Man must team up with Doctor Strange to outsmart an otherworldly force that threatens New York City in this new Mighty Marvel Team-Up series! There’s chaos at Avengers Tower! When the communications system goes down at the tower, technical genius and super hero Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, thinks there will be a quick and easy solution. But when Iron Man learns that the root of the problem is the arrival of the otherworldly creature Gargantos and it’s missing children that are loose across New York City, Iron Man quickly finds that he’s out of his depth. Luckily for him, mystical expert Doctor Strange arrives to team up with Iron Man and save the day! The tw...

  THE HARROWING: A GRAPHIC NOVEL written by Kristen Kiesling, illustrated by Rye Hickman Harry N. Abrams, 2024 ISBN:   9781419760846 Source: eBook from the public library through Sora Ages 14 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK In this YA graphic novel, a psychic teen hunts potential killers until she discovers the boy she loves is her next target Rowan Sterling should be worrying about normal teenage things like attending college and whether her best friend, Lucas, is maybe more than a friend. . . . Instead, she’s having terrifying visions of blood and violence. As the premonitions increase in number and intensity, Rowan seeks her father’s help, but instead finds herself drugged, kidnapped, and sent to a mysterious facility called Rosewood. It isn’t long before Rowan discovers Rosewood isn’t a boarding school or an it’s a training center for teens with special abilities who are known as Harrows. Harrows can view the actions of would-be murderers be...

THE DEEP DARK written and illustrated by Molly Knox Ostertag Graphix, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-338-84000-1 Source: public library Ages 14 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover and summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK From Molly Knox Ostertag, writer-illustrator, comes a darkly beautiful story of identity, family, love, loss, and magic. Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth. Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine make outs with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out -- like it did once before. So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, brin...

INK GIRLS written by Marieke Nijkamp, illustrated by Sylvia Bi Greenwillow Books, 2023 ISBN:  978-0-06-302710-7 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK Every secret is a story waiting to happen. From New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp and illustrator Sylvia Bi, this debut middle grade graphic novel celebrates the power that everyone—even those often overlooked—has to create change. In a vibrant city, two girls from very different walks of life join forces to fight censorship and protect the people they love. Eleven-year-old Cinzia is a printer’s apprentice. She adores Mestra Aronne for taking her in—most guilds don’t have room for apprentices with a crippled leg—and she loves life in the raggedy workshop that smells of paper and printing, where secrets and stories are always circulating. So when Mestra Aronne is imprisoned for publishing accusations agai...

  UNICORN BOY Unicorn Boy #1 written & illustrated by Dave Roman color by Heather Mann First Second, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-250-37317-5 Source: purchased eBook Ages 8-11 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK The first few years of Brian Reyes’ life were unremarkable―nothing weird about this kid, no sir. Then, one day, a bump appeared on his head, and it grew…and grew…and grew until it was a full-blown, sparkling, SINGING unicorn horn. That’s absolutely the last thing a shy kid like Brian wants, but destiny waits for no unicorn boy. Luckily, Brian has his reassuring pal Avery to keep him grounded as weird occurrences start stacking up, like Brian’s breakfast muffin talking to him, or a bizarre black cat offering him a business card. But when shadowy creatures from another realm kidnap Avery, Brian has to embrace his fate to rescue his best friend. In the pages of Unicorn Boy, Dave Roman has create...

EMBER AND THE ISLAND OF LOST CREATURES written & illustrated by Jason Pamment HarperAlley, 2023 ISBN: 978-0-06-306520-8 Source: purchased Graphic novel Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK From Treasure in the Lake ’s Jason Pamment comes a story of friendship and self-discovery, in a gorgeously illustrated world perfect for fans of Hilda and Over the Garden Wall . Fitting in can be hard, especially when you’re as small as Ember, a tiny boy living alone in a city of giants. But Ember’s luck changes when he meets Lua, a kindly sea turtle, who escorts him across the ocean to a school for little creatures on a wondrous island. ­Here, Ember learns that first days can be hard, too—especially when they involve bizarre, fantastical cave-dwellers, ferocious storms, and classmates that, from the very start, aren’t at all interested in making friends. As he struggles to adapt to this new wo...

  THE GREAT PUPTECTIVE The Great Puptective #1 written and illustrated by Alina Tysoe Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024 ISBN: 9781665938242  Source: eARC & ARC from the publisher (THANKS!) Ages 6-9 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover, author art, & summary provided by the publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK A set-in-his-ways housecat has his routine upended by an enthusiastic new puppy with a nose for solving mysteries in this first adorable book in a graphic novel chapter book series perfect for fans of InvestiGators and Narwhal and Jelly. Truffles the cat is the only pet in the house and reigns in peace and quiet, only exerting himself to find the best place to take a nice, long nap—preferably in a spot of warm sunshine. Then Poppy the puppy bursts onto the scene. Poppy is loud, enthusiastic, excitable, and—worst of all—a puptective! She’s got an eye for crime and a nose to solve all mysteries that come her way…even though she’s not compl...

DEAR BROTHER written by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tuan Nini Atheneum/A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-5344-8708-6 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 7-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Sister wants a dog more than anything else. But as with everything else in her life, her brother gets what he wants (a bearded dragon) since dogs aren't allowed in their apartment building. Sister writes letters to her brother about her feelings regarding being 'overlooked' and told to wait until she's older to get what she wants. She shares all kinds of examples of being "America's Most Overlooked Sibling". Her brother gets the best room in the apartment, chooses where to go on vacation, and now, gets to choose the family pet. On top of that he gets to go to music camp even though sister loves music too. Using letter segments, mostly addressed to brother, and numerous drawings, ...

LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS Survival Scout #1 written & illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III Roaring Brook Press, 2023 ISBN: 978-1-250-79046-0 Source: purchased Ages 8-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Lost in the Mountains follows the adventures of a young girl named Scout as she works to survive in the mountains after she and her brother get lost.  Scout's brother while a supposed professional guide proves to be seriously incompetent providing lots of humor and eye-rolling moments mixed in with the serious instructional moments. Thankfully, Scout proves to be much more skilled in the mountains, with the help of the narrator and a clingy skunk ally.  The first of a new graphic novel series about surviving disasters is both entertaining and informative. A warning on the title page reminds young readers that none of the skills and techniques shown in the book should be tried without a responsible adult. After h...

THE TRYOUT by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao Scholastic, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-338-74130-8 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK STAND TALL. BE LOUD. GAME FACE ON. When cheerleading tryouts are announced, Christina and her best friend, Megan, literally jump at the chance to join the squad. As two of the only kids of color in the school, they have always yearned to fit in-and the middle school cheerleaders are popular and accepted by everyone. But will the girls survive the terrifying tryouts, with their whole grade watching? And will their friendship withstand the pressures of competition? REVIEW This graphic novel based on the author's middle school experiences presents readers with an enjoyable relatable read. The book works well as both a mirror and a window book. Some middle school experiences  are easy for almost any young reader to connect to, things such as...

  THE FLAMINGO by Guojing Random House Studio, 2022 ISBN: 978-0-593-12731-5 Source: purchased Ages 6 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Once again, Guojing has produced a stunningly beautiful work of art in picture book form.  I've been a fan of Guojing's ever since I saw her first book, The Only Child , and even more of a fan after, Stormy .  It took about two seconds to click buy when I heard about this one.  And I was not disappointed in any way.  When a young girl visits her Lao Lao, she sees a feather kept in a cup by the door. Between the fun trips to the beach, picnics, and cooking in the kitchen, Lao Lao tells the girl the story of finding a flamingo egg and raising the bird to adulthood before watching it fly away. The minimal use of words allows the illustrations to do the heavy lifting which they do magnificently. The more neutral hues of the grandmother and her granddaughter...

THIS PLANET ROCKS! Rover and Speck #1 by Jonathan Roth with color by Paulina Suarez Kids Can Press, 2022 ISBN: 9781525305665 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher from Goodreads.com. REVIEW Rover lands on a rocky planet only to discover that his antenna broke on the descent.  The explorer decides to begin its journey by examining the planet as it was designed to do.  As Rover looks for life, it finds many rocks and minerals. Only when it scans for 'not-life' and 'not-rocks' does it find something different.  The 'not-life' and 'not-rock' turns out to be another rover called Special Planet Explorer Class-K, shortened to SPECK. Speck, unfortunately, doesn't remember anything about its mission and after charging its solar batteries, joins Rover exploring the planet. For a robot, Speck does puppy dog eyes really well. Speck's enthusiasm and Rover's expertise make them a good team, e...

ENOLA HOLMES, The Graphic Novels, Book One based on the novels by Nancy Springer, by Serena Blasco Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5248-7132-1 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 9-14 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK A graphic novel adaptation of the hit books that inspired the Netflix film! Sherlock Holmes’ brilliant, strong-willed younger sister takes center stage in this delightfully drawn graphic novel based on Nancy Springer’s bestselling mystery series. 14-year-old Enola Holmes wakes on her birthday to discover that her mother has disappeared from the family's country manor, leaving only a collection of flowers and a coded message book. With Sherlock and Mycroft determined to ship her off to a boarding school, Enola escapes, displaying a cleverness that even impresses the elder Holmes. But nothing prepares her for what lies ahead… Book One in the series includes ...

QUEST FOR THE UNICORN HORN The Extincts #1 by Scott Magoon Amulet Books, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-4197-5250-6 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by goodreads.com & the publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK A team of extinct animals embark on top-secret missions around the world in this new graphic novel series Meet Scratch, Martie, Lug, and Quito, members of a secret organization called R.O.A.R., or the Rescue Ops Acquisition Rangers. When their boss, Dr. Z, finally calls on them for their first big mission, the team heads to Siberia to retrieve an ancient unicorn horn from the thawing permafrost. Scratch is thrilled at the chance to prove his worth to Dr. Z—but as soon as they land, the team runs into a mysterious enemy determined to take them down. With exciting missions, plenty of humor, and an environmental angle, this series starter from New York Times bestselling illustrator Scott Magoon is an action-packed adventure from start...

GERALDINE PU AND HER CAT HAT, TOO! written and illustrated by Maggie P. Chang Ready to Read Graphics Level 3 Simon Spotlight, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5344-8471-9 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 6-8 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by Goodreads.com & publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK Spunky, funny, and friendly Geraldine Pu gets ready for picture day in this second book in this Level 3 Ready-to-Read Graphics series! Geraldine Pu loves her cat hat, Mao Maotz. If only she felt the same way about her own hair! Then she finds out that picture day is happening at school, and there’s a strict no hats rule. Will Geraldine learn to love her hair and her unique style? Ready-to-Read Graphics books give readers the perfect introduction to the graphic novel format with easy-to-follow panels, speech bubbles with accessible vocabulary, and sequential storytelling that is spot-on for beginning readers. There’s even a how-to guide for reading graphic novels a...

WANTED CatNinja #3 : Wanted by Matthew Cody & Chad Thomas Epic Creations (Andrews McMeel Publishing), 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5248-7510-7 Source: publisher for review (Thanks) Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by Goodreads.com & publisher. ABOUT THE BOOK In Book 3 of the hugely popular Cat Ninja series, small-time crooks, sidekicks, and the wannabe supervillains who made our heroes who they are all get a chance to tell their stories––and their stories are hilarious! Cat Ninja: Wanted features Metro City's favorites and newcomers in tales that include a nearly cat-astrophic case of stolen identity, the not-so-villainous adventures of Master Hamster, and Adonis's first mission as one of the good guys. Enjoy six stand-alone stories, plus a five-part Cat Ninja special miniseries! The stories in Cat Ninja: Wanted teach readers that: People (and villains!) can change Everyone deserves a second chance You don't need superpowers ...

SPY SCHOOL The Graphic Novel by Stuart Gibbs , illustrated by Anna Sakar Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-5344-5543-6 Source: publisher for review Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover and summary from Goodreads.com ABOUT THE BOOK Can an undercover nerd become a superstar secret agent? Now a graphic novel! Ben Ripley may only be in middle school, but he’s already pegged his dream job: CIA or bust. Unfortunately for him, his personality doesn’t exactly scream “secret agent.” In fact, Ben is so awkward, he can barely get to school and back without a mishap. Because of his innate nerdiness, Ben is not surprised when he is recruited for a magnet school with a focus on science—but he’s entirely shocked to discover that the school is actually a front for a junior CIA academy. Could the CIA really want him? Actually, no. There’s been a case of mistaken identity—but that doesn’t stop Ben from trying to morph into a supercool undercover ag...