Animal Rescue Friends by Meika Hashimoto and Gina Loveless; illustrated by Genevieve Kote

  Maddie is having trouble making friends; despite her best efforts, the other kids either ignore her or are outright rude. So she's thrilled when she discovers a friendly - and lost - pit bull mix in the park. Through "Boyd" she is introduced to Animal Rescue Friends where, after a rocky start, she begins to make friends with the other volunteers and even, eventually, some of the boys who have been harassing her. Eventually Maddie has to let "Boyd" go back to his real family, but she's made lots of friends along the way and there's a happy ending for all.

A lengthy follow-up explains in detail the process of making a comic and the work of each creator, from author to inker and colorist, with activities for kids to follow along and try themselves. The art of the book is bright and cheerful, fitting into the Telgemeier style that is so popular for realistic comics right now.

The five chapters of the book are loosely connected stories, featuring different kids that Maddie meets. Along the way readers get a glimpse of the financial challenges of Maddie's single parent family, kids struggling against peer pressure, and other kids dealing with various challenges in their life. The episodes are tied up neatly with somewhat simplistic solutions.

Epic! provides ebooks and audiobooks for many schools and has started creating its own content in the past year. While it's not necessarily award-winning literature, it's a pleasant story with a diverse cast and an attractive plot for young readers. There are many more options for beginning chapter readers now, and Epic!'s transitional graphic novels are a great choice, especially for readers who are struggling to move up into more challenging chapter books.

Verdict: Affordable, attractive, and relatable, this will fly off your shelves and kids will clamor for more stories in the series. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781524868062; Published June 2021 by Andrews McMeel; Borrowed from another library in my consortium