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Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Real Friends is a friendship memoir graphic novel from Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. It deals with complicated friendship groups and the dynamics of popularity in school. It also treats some of the challenges of sibling relationships in a large family. Shannon is surrounded by people but feels constantly left out. She is desperate to form close connections but is too often hurt. The drawings are powerful and make good use of colour, capturing Shannon’s anxiety and the real joy when things go well for her.

This book is great for KS2 and into KS3 and will be particularly popular with the many fans of Raina Telgemeier, Jerry Craft and other graphic novels revolving around school and friendship-based issues.

The author and illustrator beautifully capture the story of artist Henri Matisse and explore the question: “Why do painters paint what they do? Do they paint what they see or what they remember?” The story explores Matisse’s boyhood influences through vibrant colours and artwork that evokes the painter he became, inspired by colour and light and movement. This book is a delight to read and pore over and will certainly nurture an appreciation of observation of the everyday world around us as an inspiration for art.

Zita’s life took a cosmic left turn in the blink of an eye. When her best friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult, Zita leaps to the rescue and finds herself a stranger on a strange planet. Humanoid chickens and neurotic robots are shocking enough as new experiences go, but Zita is even more surprised to find herself taking on the role of intergalactic hero. Before long, aliens in all shapes and sizes don’t even phase her. Neither do ancient prophecies, doomed planets, or even a friendly con man who takes a mysterious interest in Zita’s quest. Zita the Spacegirl is a fun, captivating tale of friendship and redemption from Flight veteran Ben Hatke. It also has more whimsical, eye-catching, Miyazaki-esque monsters than you can shake a stick at.

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