Starred review from July 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Neesha Sparks is an honors student being put into remedial classes due to misconceptions of her disability until she speaks up. New state, new home, and new school will not crush her activist spirit, as she knows you have to get loud to be heard. Enter fellow new girl Gabby Graciana, a chatty surfer who misses the ocean. As they navigate the first day together, Neesha, who is Black, learns a not-so-secret secret about Puerto Rican Mexican Gabby: she's an otaku! Together they start a book club for manga classic Super Navigator Nozomi, and as they locate volume after volume, love blossoms and Gabby has to make a choice--a new romance with Neesha or a boyfriend back home? Whitley offers a nuanced queer romance highlighting the complexity of finding love where you didn't expect it while also navigating unwelcoming spaces. The book's depiction of Gabby's Latine cultural touchstones and trauma resulting from a deadly hurricane are particularly thoughtfully done. Ribeiro terrifically transitions from a North American comic art-style to a manga-art style for pages of Super Navigator Nozomi; lifelike colors and clean gutters transform to monochrome illustrations surrounded by explosive sound effects in a celebration of all things love and manga. A perfect choice for teens who swoon over shojo.
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July 22, 2024
Black high schooler Neesha, who lives with cerebral palsy, and Boricua new student Gabby, bond over their love of a manga series in this captivating queer romance. After Neesha learns that her father sold her copies of Super Navigator Nozomi, the teens traipse across North Carolina searching for the now out-of-print volumes. As the girls grow closer, they support each other as they confront myriad interpersonal obstacles, such as Neesha navigating her ableist school administration and Gabby managing grief over her mother’s death. Though Gabby’s bubbly personality initially annoys reserved Neesha, she soon thaws, and the two develop a caring friendship that evolves into an intense romantic relationship. Young love, shared interests, and a propensity for adventure drive this snappy graphic novel love story. Frank yet sensitive depictions of mental and physical health challenges and grief by Whitley (The Dog Knight) are elevated by traditional-feeling comics panels rendered in warm earth tones by Brazilian artist Ribeiro. Dynamic lettering by Fox adds verve, and b&w excerpts of Super Navigator Nozomi are sprinkled throughout. Ages 15–up.
Starred review from August 1, 2024
Gr 6 Up-Day one at a new school brings an unexpected surprise for Neesha: a friend with a shared interest in the manga series, "Super Navigator Nozomi." Neither Gabby nor Neesha have finished it though, and so they establish a book club to locate and discuss the full set. When reading each volume, the style switches from an earth-toned western aesthetic to that of a 1980s manga, complete with screentones and starry-eyed shoujo protagonists. While this story-within-a-story pivots to sci-fi, it is replete with parallels to the girls' own story. Through their authentic discussions about manga and their pasts, their budding feelings grow for each other as they confront their insecurities. Gabby may be a big-hearted, bi Latinx, but her trauma and toxic boyfriend weigh heavily on her heart. Neesha, on the other hand, often faces prejudice from people who only see her cerebral palsy and not the strong-willed, gay, geeky girl she is. Between these two, Whitley has cultivated wonderfully complex characters who actively support and heal one another. Because of this, just like the early shoujo manga this comic pays homage to, it too may help young readers navigate their own losses, loves, and lives. VERDICT This healing slice-of-life graphic novel lights a bright path for LGBTQIA+ romance plots by including characters with intersectional experiences. A must-have for all collections.-Rachel Forbes
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