Ava Lin: Best Friend! by Vicky Fang

 Although she's written a few different board books and picture books, I'm mostly familiar with Vicky Fang from her short-lived series for Scholastic Branches, "Layla and the Bots." I was interested to see what a new beginning chapter series from her would look like and borrowed this one to preview.

Ava is super excited about going to first grade and determined, like her older cousin Nikki, to have a Best Friend. She meets a nice girl, Kushi, and is hopeful, but there are some misunderstandings and the day doesn't turn out the way she'd hoped. Then her mom gets really angry when she leaves crayons in her pockets and tells her no more pockets! But where will she put the wonderful treasure she finds? One bad decision (and emergency room visit) later, and Ava decides it's time for some careful thinking. Finally, she comes up with the perfect activity for friends to do together and the story ends on a high note. Even though Kushi may not be Ava's official Best Friend, they had a lot of fun together and Ava is looking forward to the rest of 1st grade.

The bold, large font is interspersed with black and white comic panels, with or without borders. Fang's characters are simply drawn, but easy to tell apart - Ava and her immediate family are Asian-American, with simple black curves for their hair. Kushi is Black with lightly shaded skin and two short braids poking out from her round face. There are other kids in the classroom shown with different shades of skin and the teacher, Ms. Montgomery, wears a comfortable t-shirt, loose pants, and sneakers. Some of the art is individual thumbnails, showing characters or various objects.

This is what I'd call a "gentle" story. There's no real drama, either at school or at home. Ava's annoyance with her mean cousin Justin fades quickly with the support of her older cousin Nikki and while readers will clearly understand how upset Ava is over the small trials and travails of her day, things are quickly resolved with help from her parents or Ava's own ingenuity. 

Verdict: Adults will laugh and sigh over Ava's pockets of "treasures" and young readers who enjoy quieter stories will appreciate the low-stakes adventures of Ava in her first grade year and Fang's simple but pleasant art.

ISBN: 9781536237269; Paperback/Chapter books on Baker & Taylor for $3.77

Published June 2024 by Candlewick; Added to library order backlist