“Highly Recommended”

“Highly Recommended”

From Christine, a reviewer on goodreads.com:

“After finishing this book, I turned to my brother who teaches science and told him to get a copy. Do I need to say anything else?

Really?

Okay, this book is about five girls who become friends because they are all a bit geeky, smart, and most seem to want to go into STEM fields. I say most because Lucy is unsure, but it is made clear that being unsure is okay. They are not just science nerds. They have other interests as well (such as fashion and singing), and they know history. They go to a school named after Amelia Earhart after all.

The group is diverse, as anyone can see from the cover, and last names included Martinez and Kumar. One girl is even adopted. While parents are very much in the background, suggests are made about the parents – A.J.’s father, for instance, works in robotics. While none of the girls is physically disabled, family members are.

The plot of the story centers around fixing the school’s playground as well as dealing with stupid boys who believe girls can’t be coders. The playground plot is interesting because one of the girls, Lucy, blames herself for it being closed to students. Her friends refuse to buy into that train of thought and are supportive of her.

There is also a cat called Hubble. He talks like a cat. There is also a bit end that gives more information about the famous women mentioned in the book. Additionally, at a time where women who either act or like Star Wars are being targeted by “fanboys”, it is nice to read a book where the girls like Star Wars.

Highly recommended. ”

“Highly Recommended”

“Exactly what is needed for growing girls.”

From Rachel McKitterick on goodreads.com:

4 stars.

I bumped this up to 4 stars from 3 because I really found the positive female image that was expressed to be exactly what is needed for growing girls. It was a very enjoyable graphic novel. It was run to read and wonderful to look at. The illustrations were just right and it all seemed to fall into place.

I’d have to say that the character I liked the most was Zara. Her whole ‘No negative self talk’ is what won me over. I can definitely see this as a series that will be rather popular mainly for girls but also for boys too.

The characters are mixed ages but mostly rather young. They are strong smart and intelligent and they are also themselves. Each character has something that makes them special which is another reason why i liked this. You dont have to be a certain somebody for others to like you. Plus there is a talking Cat!! (Although the others can’t exactly hear him) Need I say more?!

The story is mainly about kids who have just started up going back to school again and discover pretty soon that the playground has been closed down and is off limits. This brings me back to my own childhood as while I was in primary school, this had happened at my school aswell. It made lunch time and recess go rather slowly and we all found it hard to pass the time.

Luckily for me, my school had already started the process of building a new playground and omg was it epic! So worth the wait. Unfortunately for these kids, they had to start from square one. Coming up with an idea and raising the money.

I won’t go into the rest but I can say im looking forward to reading the next book.

Definatley recommended. 

Fun Book!

Fun Book!

From Dee Runnels on Amazon:

I just finished this book and it was great. Good story, characters you wished you could be friends with, and great detailed illustration. I’m sending it off to a seven year old kid . She’ll love it. Hubble is the cat we have all met in way or another. Girls rock, but I think boys will like this book too.

“Another fun, original graphic novel …”

“Another fun, original graphic novel …”

From the Mom Read It blog:

Recommended for readers 7-11

Papercutz has another fun, original graphic novel for intermediate readers; this time, they’re going STEM with the Geeky F@b 5: 5 girls who love science and are using their skills to make Amelia Earhart Elementary School better. Lucy, a fourth grader, and her older sister, Marina, a sixth grader, have just moved to the area and are ready to start school. Lucy, who loves the environment and animals, gels with her classmates right away: AJ, who wants to be an engineer like her dad; Sofia, a glitter girl who loves coding and making apps; and Zara, forever on her headphones, and a math whiz.

Lucy gets hurt in the school’s outdated playground that first day, and the principal and nurse shut the playground down: but the girls have plans! Together with their teacher, they come up with a great idea: put together a series of fundraisers to get the money to rebuild the playground! Every one of the girls has a job to do; now, if they could just get the bullying older kids on their side, things would be perfect.

Geeky F@b is the first in a new STEM-focused graphic novel series form Papercutz; Volume 2 is due in December. The book is easy and fun to read, with a reasonable plot and goal that can empower readers to be forces for positive change in their own communities. The characters are diverse and relatable; I enjoyed spending some time with them and am pretty sure they’ll be popular reading at my library.

Rich Reviews: “Girls do rule!”

Rich Reviews: “Girls do rule!”

From the First Comics News Website:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Comments: “Chapter One: First Day. New School.” We see a normal family, parents, two sisters and a cat named Hubble. The sisters are shown as being close. This family has just moved to a new town, the town of Normal. This is a cute all-ages book. The art fuzzy. It does show off the characters good enough and is nicely colored, just it is fuzzy.

The two sisters Marina and Lucy are wonderful together. Lucy really admires her big sister. Their first day at school is pretty uneventful. The usual stuff happens. It is fun to follow along with them.

“Chapter Two: Bye-Bye Playground” Lucy has already made some cool new friends. They are getting along great and there are only a few minor annoying things. Lucy is a lovely young girl in elementary school.

“Chapter Three: Sweet Dreams Slumber Party”  All the girls are shown having such a wonderful time at the slumber party. They also come up with one really amazing idea. They may be kids yet they can still think.

“Chapter Four: A Battle Plan For Action” The sisters and Lucy’s new friends band together and forge ahead. They have a goal in sight and they have a plan to achieve it. It is exciting to follow along with these girls lives.

“Chapter Six:…Go! Earhart Bands Together.” The Geeky Fab 5 get their name and they are well on their way to achieving their goal. These girls once started just do not stop. It is wonderful to see such devotion to a project from such young people.

“Chapter Seven: The Fun Run” The children put all they had into achieving their goal and then they fell short or did they. It is great having an unexpected source enter the game.

“Chapter Eight: Earhart Soars Again” We see here that girls can achieve anything they set their hearts and minds to. This story does have ordinary kids doing the extraordinary. The kids do look cute as well as realistic in their style.

Girls do rule!

“A comfortable read with a good message …”

“A comfortable read with a good message …”

From the Comics Worth Reading website:

Geeky Fab 5 has an explicit purpose — to show girls taking part in STEM activities. I support that, and this book achieves its goal, although it’s more about determination and teamwork than actual math or science. We hear about girls coding, for example, but don’t see much of the actual practice.

Lucy and her sister Marina have just moved to the town of Normal. Lucy’s new school friends are Zara, Sofia, and A.J. Between them, they have a variety pack of interests that hit every base: math, art, singing, coding, engineering, animals, space, and karate. There’s also Hubble, Lucy’s cat who sneaks to school and has his own sarcastic thought-bubble monologue.

When Lucy gets hurt on the playground, the school decides to tear it down, because there’s no money to fix it. The friends decide to raise money and design a new playground, each contributing their own talents. This short graphic novel is co-written by Lucy and Liz Lareau (12-year-old daughter and mother, respectively) and illustrated by Ryan Jampole.

The cartooning is easy to read, with focus on the characters talking, and the story is straightforward, with events, motivations, and lessons spelled out explicitly in the dialogue. That’s particularly true when the teacher keeps encouraging the kids not to let setbacks get them down. The characters’ energy is clearly conveyed, keeping young readers interested in their activities.

I hadn’t realized until it was said at the end that this was meant to take place over a year, since there isn’t much indication of time passing, but it’s realistic that it would take a while to achieve their goal. This book gets its job done competently, and parents, teachers, and librarians should welcome it as a comfortable read with a good message. I wish we saw the girls actually engaging in more science or math activities, though, beyond keeping a total of money raised. (That’s not math so much as counting.)