I had a small adventure when I first tried to read Juniper Mae Volume One: Knight of Tykotech City. Nothing fancy, just I had an online link, lost it, then found it again. Who knows how that happened; but it did. Then recently I went back to my stored online reader copies and was deleting the links that were no longer active. But Sarah Soh’s short graphic novel was. And since this was published March 2023 you can run out and get the book, too. Okay, don’t even read the rest of my review. Just go out and get a copy!
This is a wonderfully sweet, and a little silly, story. It is about a young girl, her new friend and the future technology that needs help from a small, and not so technical, source. There are delightful illustrations that are busy, but give the feel of a space-age world and a classic theme of coming of age so things are also simple. There are wonderful colors that bring the story to life.
And that story is about Juniper Mae, with her father, grandfather, and a frog-like friend called Albie. Juniper is a genius who can invent self-warming socks that are waterproof, floating fish bowls and more. She makes a jet pack, but because her energy source is a little wonky, it poofs out on her, crashing her into the forest outside the city walls, where she starts her adventures and learns the “big bad monsters” of history are gone, her fairy tale heroes (The Guardian Knights) are probably real, and with a little luck, she will find a way to solve the energy crisis mystery. Short, sweet, and clever, this is a great series for the aged 8 to 12 (the 11-12 year old would be slightly on the younger side), but could be read aloud to younger readers.
