Serendipity

Description: "A girl becomes convinced she's cursed after an accident at the town carnival involving a fortune-telling machine"--Provided by publisher.

Review Quotes: Owning one's choices is a journey every tween takes, and Benda's story will prove relatable to many middle grade graphic novel readers. Full-page spreads featuring bright colors and a variety of panel sizes bring Dippy's world to life and make for immersive reading. Hand this to fans of series like Terri Libenson's "Emmie & Friends," Svetlana Chmakova's "Awkward," and Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham's "Real Friends."
--School Library Journal

Benda's debut brings the world of middle school to life with all its comedic highs and weighty lows. Her use of foreshortening effectively depicts overwhelming moments, while her dramatic employment of light and shadow enhances the fraught scenes between the best friends. . . . A humorous story that will help tweens gain self-awareness and set healthy boundaries.
--Kirkus Reviews

Bold, rounded lines render winking details (in Serendipity's journal: "super-awesome crowdsourced ways to fix bad luck"), adding visual humor to the low-stakes conflict. It's a lighthearted tale that both celebrates young overachievers and suggests that everyone could use a break.
--Publishers Weekly

The realistic color scheme and familiar comic-book layout help ground the curse firmly in reality, and the characters' faces, though cartoonish, convey the range of middle school emotions, from petty jealousies to childlike joy. Told entirely in speech bubbles, the overexaggerated fonts capture the stress of trying to do it all when nothing's going right. . . . A sweet reminder to readers that they can create their own luck.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

An absolute gem of a debut.
--Shelf Awareness