Flash Review: Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse

20 June 202113 March 2025Leave a comment

By Maureen Tai, 20 June 2021

Witches of Brooklyn (ages 8+) is the delightful debut graphic novel by French illustrator Sophie Escabasse. Newly orphaned Effie is unceremoniously dumped at the beautiful three-storey house belonging to her aunts, Selimene and Carlota. If living with relatives she barely knew existed wasn’t bad enough, Effie has to deal with a new school and grapple with a terrifying new reality – that like her aunts, she too is a witch! Effie’s latent magical powers and inner strength are slowly revealed in this enjoyable story, packed with a host of memorable characters who each harbour their own little secrets. The gorgeously coloured illustrations are masterfully executed, each page full of movement, interesting details and thoughtful character depictions; from little Effie’s Asian features and updated anime bun style hairdo to Aunt Selimene’s pugnacious nose and jutting chin and Aunt Carlota’s teeny tiny pince-nez and softly plump figure. A lovely read that will appeal especially to little girls (and their mums) who secretly wish for magical powers!

NOTE: Thank you for reading my reviews! I’ll never take this website down, but in the interests of streamlining, from 1 January 2025, I’ll be posting new reviews on my writer website, www.maureentai.com, where I post lots of other bookish extras. See you there!

Flash Review: Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

13 June 202113 March 2025Leave a comment

By Maureen Tai, 13 June 2021

Love That Dog (ages 8+) is a delightful verse novel, written as a series of diary-like ruminations of a (likely 10-year old) boy called Jack. We learn that Jack is a reluctant poet. Through his eyes, we see his teacher Miss Stretchberry, persisting. She shares different forms and styles of poetry and encourages Jack to explore poetry as a way of connecting with his emotions and telling life stories. Through his writing, we see Jack change as he becomes more comfortable with words, as he’s able to confront the raw, poignant truth about his beloved dog, Sky and as he’s able to share his story not just with his classmates but with a bona fide, real poet and author – the incredible Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014). This beautifully written, gently humorous and deeply thoughtful middle grade story (short! coming in at 86 pages) is signature Creech and one to treasure, whether you’re a poet or not (or if you just didn’t know it).

Flash Review: The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof by Annie M.G. Schmidt

6 June 202113 March 2025Leave a comment

By Maureen Tai, 6 June 2021

At its heart, middle-grade novel The Cat Who Came In Off The Roof (ages 9+) by Dutch author, Annie M.G. Schmidt is a love story. Mr. Tibbles is a cat-loving reporter who has run out of stories. Minou is a cat-like young lady who has odd behavioural traits. They meet. Or more accurately, Mr. Tibbles saves Minou from an angry dog. Minou moves in (sleeping in a box in Tibble’s junk room). Mr. Tibbles becomes privy to interesting news, relayed by Minou and gathered from a network of feline sources. They solve a crime together. And yes, they fall in love. While this book – written half a century ago – features mostly adult protagonists (almost unheard of now for middle grade books), they are charming, interesting and whimsical enough to appeal to young children. Cat lovers in particular, will adore the memorable cast of cat characters, from the brazen Tatter Cat to the rather clueless History Cat to the rotund Metropole Cat. A short, fun read for the summer.

SUMMER 2021: The Definitive Graphic Novel List for Middle Graders (8-12 yrs old)

31 May 202113 March 2025Leave a comment

By Maureen, Anna and Ben, 31 May 2021

Summer is just around the corner!

We’ve decided to put together some of our own definitive book lists ahead of the summer holidays with our personal recommendations for great stories that stay with us!

We’ll start with our Definitive Graphic Novel List for Middle Graders (8-12 years old). The list includes old favourites, but also recent releases, and some, but not all, have been reviewed on the blog.

To keep it concise, we’ve only included one graphic novel from each author/illustrator – he or she may have many others that you can also explore! (For example, Sara Varon has several amazing titles, so it was tough, but we’ve chosen Bake Sale to be her representative for our list). Our list for older readers will follow shortly.

We hope you’ll discover some new graphic novels to try out this summer. Happy reading!

Maureen, Anna & Ben