Book Recommendations - February Edition!

A little late with this one, but here it is! Like the previous post, all of these are generally wholesome and light! All of them are graphic novels as well! Here are ones that I read in February that I'd recommend:

Stand Up! by Tori Sharp: Modern-day story following two best friends in middle school who decide to start a podcast. One of my absolute favorite graphic novels with extremely positive representations of characters with ADHD and autism written/drawn by an author who is both. (I think I sequel is coming out soon-ish too and I am so excited!!)

Fresh Start by Gale Galligan: Modern-day story following a family who moves frequently due to the father being a diplomat. I loved the different perspectives between the siblings on constant moves in their life, how the main character grew with the new friend group, and the look at American-Thai culture.

We Could be Magic by Marissa Meyer and Joelle Murray (Illustrator): Modern-day story set during the main character's Summer internship in a character theme park. I had no idea what direction it was going to go when I started and I was wonderfully surprised by the sweet story with an honest critique of the 'princess' body type. I was little teary (in a very good way!) about the ending.

Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan Vol. 1 by Sasami Nitori: Absolutely adorable 4-panel comics with a a 'gloomy' main character and his wholesome relationship with a cat he adopts (that also has some amazing abilities). It is just so optimistic and the characters are so kind. I'm currently reading the later volumes right now and it always brightens my mood.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang: Immensely expressive story focused on the relationship between two characters as they grow individually. I can't believe I hadn't read this before. It's fantastic, amazing, and I was paging through it after I finished just to see some parts again.

Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga: Touching fantasy where certain girls can be chosen to have dragon eggs that they raise, focused on one girl who does not but wishes to. It is a ride from start to finish and one of the few that I read in one sitting. My brother gave this to me after he also read it in one sitting and we got to commiserate over the parts we both cried over (thanks bro).

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen: Modern-day story framed with a fairytale that deals with grief. I want to live in this world. It is just so warm and I related so much with the main character, I have said these exact things and I keep thinking about this book. (I got to give this one to my brother and we got to commiserate some more!) **I will say my only misgiving is the lack of a 'stranger-danger' warning due to the main character interacting anonymously with someone online - it turns out fine (they actually know each other) and this is made clear to the reader very early on, but something to keep in mind if giving this to younger folks!**

Looking back, it was a lot of modern-day stories, but I wouldn't say any of them were like each other! I'll have the next recommendations from what I read in March up a bit sooner in April!

Take care!

​-Keilani