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Books are incredible tools that can build empathy, inspire travel, and even help kids get excited about science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks arrived at my door at just the right time, a long time reader with a middle schooler had just asked me if there were any new graphic novels that her daughter might like. I immediately suggested this specific title because;

Graphic novels are wonderful options for readers of all levels but especially for middle-grade readers. As my eight year old told me a few days ago ” I like reading novels with no pictures with you, but graphic novels alone because the pictures help to engage me in the book right away!” Sanity and Tallulah is a complex book, the vocabulary is challenging at times, and that’s a good thing! The illustrations are a wonderful scaffold for readers and like my daughter said it helps to engage the reader right away!
This book is the first part of a three-part series. Getting readers into series is the best way to get them reading more! Just be prepared to track down the next installments.
The characters in this book aren’t one dimensional. They are all complex and real, and while the story is about adventure and science, there is a huge social-emotional piece that makes me as a parent feel great about my child devouring it.

Here is a little more about Sanity & Tallulah:

Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends that live space station at the end of the galaxy. Sanity is pretty much a genius when it comes to science, and she uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she names Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds. Like any good friend Tallulah keeps this a secret even though she totally should have told her mom Dr.Vega. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds (the kitten) escapes the lab and totally causes major problems! The girls will have to turn the space station upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it’s too late?