Two books that found their way to my reading pile were a middle reader chapter book and a short, but ultimately fascinating picture book. While they are both radically different and not exactly completely available (She-Ra looks like it is out of print and the picture book is due May 2023) they are ones that made a weekend a little less unproductive, and a lunch less solo.
Origin of a Hero (She-Ra Chapter Book #1) by Tracey West (illustrations by Amanda Schank) is a short novel about how the character She-Ra was created. This is not my She-Ra of the 1980s but of the Netflix series. You might need to find this is your local library or pre-loved store, as I found an old reader copy that I had laying around. The story seems to start in the middle of things. And it does. As the publisher description says it expands on the Netflix series. Therefore, this book is limited in its audience, though I think most eight to ten-year-olds could be okay with the fantasy adventures. There are sassy princesses, bad guys, and secret identities. And since my copy was not complete, I am not sure how the artwork worked out, but I am sure it is similar to the cover.
What Will I Discover is a combination science and philosophy story. Oh, I’m sure a few scientists said that there are only facts not thought in science, and even a few philosophers that said theirs is not “science” they study. Yet, there is both in both subjects. We follow a young child who knows that scientists know everything, but that is, until they don’t. And like how the narrator has told us that there is a mountain on Mars larger than Everest, they tell us the questions they do not know answers to, like how do trees talk to each other through their roots and do each tree have its own language? (Actually, I want to know that last one too). And the child’s biggest question cannot be answered by any scientist of today, which is “What will I discover?” as only the narrator/us the reader knows that answers. Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s clever and cute text is wonderfully, colorfully, and sweetly illustrated by Rachel Qiuqi.
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