Star Scouts is a new middle grade graphic novel by Mike Lawrence. Since this is a middle grade story and I just happen to have a daughter who reads middle grade stories, this will be the second dual review with my daughter Juliette. She was excited when this came in the mail, like magic, with neither of us knowing it was coming. But, like any good reader, she hit the ground running. One sitting, she was done. And then, because she’s learning to be a good reviewer, she wrote out her thoughts right away so she wouldn’t forget.
Juilette writes “I really liked it. the more I read I felt like I understood Avani. I didn’t really like that it was written in all caps, that kinda bothered me. I disliked Pam, but I think thats normal, as for the other characters mm…okay. My favorites are Avani and Mabel. I feel like I could relate to Avani being comfortable with certain people and certain places. After my first review with my mm on The Time Museum i started liking comics more and more! I really liked Star Scouts and I hope any people that read it like it too!”
What I love most about my kid and her reading style is that she really empathizes with the characters. She understood how Avani felt and could empathize. It shows that the writer did a really food job with the characters.
I just now sat to down to read the story and I found it a quick, fun read. I liked how it was set up into four parts. I liked the characters and how well the author fleshed out them all. And the the moral or theme of the story of being you and not trying to change who you are to fit in, was really well done. It didn’t hit you over the head like some other stories do. I must admit (as a parent) I’m not a huge fan of the duplicity that Avani pulled off to get to her camp, and I almost wish that she had come clean to her dad about it. The world building was fun and I think nay kid who is into space or scouts, will really enjoy it!
Star Scouts came out today from First Second Books.
