The creepy case files of Margo Maloo by Drew Weing

Charles is not happy about moving to the big city. He'll have no friends, his parents are making him eat weird food, and basically everything is different. On top of all of that, there is an ACTUAL MONSTER IN HIS CLOSET. No, not a pretend one. A real one! Fortunately, a neighborhood kid drops a hint - Margo Maloo is the girl.... er.... person? to call. She turns out to be a very strange.... creature? and not at all what Charles expected. But now that he's had a glimpse of the monster world he can't get enough and he's ready to take any risk to follow up and get the scoop for his blog.

Drew Weing's art is attractive, clear and simple without too many details or too boring. It was also strangely familiar and then I realized that he's married to Eleanor Davis, who has a similar style which I love. Ah, Secret Science Alliance, where is thy sequel? I would have like the black kid to not be (once again) the sidekick, but Margo is certainly diverse enough for anyone's taste. Is she monster or human? Or both? She's a woman of mystery.

I really enjoyed this spunky mystery. It's got the perfect mix of mystery, monsters, adventure and humor that will make kids read it from beginning to end.

Verdict: There's hopefully a sequel in the works for this monster mystery. If you have any fans of Kiki Strike they'll devour this graphic novel; otherwise, promote it as a perfect book for lovers of the slightly macabre and mysterious.

ISBN: 9781626723399; Published 2016 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium