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| Image: Penguin Random House |
Middle Grade Monday features Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz. It's the beginning of summer and Jamila and her family are new to town. Jamila definitely does not want to attend the science camp her older brothers went to. She wants to ball down at the basketball courts five blocks away. Her mother is having none of that. Shirley, who favors wearing trench coats and reading, is not happy to learn her mom signed her up for ballet camp. When the two meet at a garage sale both moms dragged them to, they click. Not because they were destined to become friends, but because they have a common problem.
Shirley has an idea. They get their moms to agree that the two will spend time together instead of going to camp! Jamila dreams of basketball, but while Shirley has set up an "office" at the bball court, she always steers the pair somewhere else, especially after Oliver shows up with a case for her to solve. His gecko is missing. Shirley may not have any friends; but she is the neighborhood detective. The problem? Jamila is not going to play Watson to Shirley's Sherlock.
The art was uncolored in this arc, but had energy as did the panel layout, which sometimes challenged the eye (at least my old ones). I can't wait to see the finished art. The Toronto setting was appealing. The tween interactions were spot on and the mystery was intriguing. There is so much to love here.
Just before the school building was shut down due to the pandemic, a student came into the library looking for a mystery. He had to read a new genre. As I book talked some TMS favorites, I could see he wasn't impressed. He suddenly asked, "Do you have any graphic novel mysteries?" Clever, clever lad to combine his preferred genre with one foisted upon him. Unfortunately, as we perused the section, there wasn't a gn mystery to be found! I realized that the collection really skews to fantasy and humor. I cannot wait to add Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer!
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