Skip to main content

Allergic

Image
By


By Megan Wagner Lloyd
Illustrated by Michelle Mee Nutter
New York: Scholastic, 2021. Graphic novel.

Maggie is super excited for her tenth birthday, A.K.A. the best day of her life -- the day that her parents are finally letting her adopt a puppy. Technically it is a family dog, but Maggie knows that her younger twin brothers will be too distracted with each other to care (as usual) and her parents will be too busy with the new baby on the way, so the dog will basically be just Maggie's. When her birthday finally arrives, Maggie has just found the perfect puppy at the shelter when she starts to suddenly break out in a really bad rash. A quick visit to the doctor reveals the worst, Maggie is severely allergic to anything with fur or feathers -- owning her own dog is off the table. Still, Maggie isn't ready to give up on pets just yet, she only needs to find the right one.

Like so many recent graphic novels, Allergic is a perfect coming of age story starring a relatable tween girl who copes with her allergies, her apprehension about her family's new baby, and her loneliness at starting a new school because of a boundary change. This book also provides insights into what life looks like for people with severe allergies -- Maggie gets allergy shots while her friend Lloyd has an egg allergy and carries an EpiPen -- and does a lot to destigmatize people with severe allergies. Cleanly drawn comic panels make this an especially engaging book, and readers will be enchanted by this warm, encouraging story of family, friendship, and connection. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

By
If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.
Post a Comment
Read more

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

By loo
Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more