Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers
(Gabby Torres)

Gr 3-5--After a year of pleading, nine-year-old Gabby Torres is finally invited to join the Sea Musketeers, an ocean conservation club. She comes up with a great idea: make a club social media account. Everyone loves it and decides Gabby will be in charge, but Gabby's parents feel otherwise. Gabby and her best friends, Prya and Kat, create a compelling slide show to convince them to allow it. Her parents agree but with rules: post once a week, only post with mom, and never go online alone without supervision! Excitement builds as the club's posts begin to get comments. Unfortunately, Gabby peeks and sees a negative comment which leads to her making many bad choices trying to get to the bottom of who the anonymous poster was, even accusing her best friends and her teacher. When phone calls from school come in, Gabby is in deep trouble. Her parents ground her, and she can no longer manage the account. This book's narrative creates opportunities for caretakers to have candid conversations with young readers about internet usage, potential dangers, and safe practices. Brightly colored illustrations amid a mix of panel sizes and block text blend together to form this timely, realistic story. VERDICT A strong entry in the family and friends graphic novel genre. Give this to fans of Raina Telgemeier, Shannon Hale, Varian Johnson, and Nathan Fairbairn.--Elisabeth LeBris

How is nine-year-old Gabby Torres--the middle school environmental club's youngest member--supposed to impress her fellow Sea Musketeers when she rarely gets to speak during meetings? After persuading her parents to help her bake blueberry muffins for the club, hoping that plying the Sea Musketeers with a treat will grant her an opportunity to talk, Gabby finally gets her opening: she suggests the club create a zine about protecting the oceans, and even offers to generate social media buzz. Though her parents assert that, while she's allowed to be online, she "must only post with Mom," Gabby secretly surfs the web alone. It's during one of her solo runs that she encounters Unicorns$R4babiez, who posts that the environmental club is stupid. Assuming it's someone she knows, Gabby alienates everyone around her. Though the overarching message regarding social media use and how to deal with online trolls is a bit heavy-handed, exuberant and well-intentioned Gabby, along with her supportive family and friends, help to lighten the load in this environmentally savvy chapter book series opener set in Dominguez's Stella Díaz universe. Occasional comics depict characters with varying skin tones. Ages 6-9. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Jan.)

A strong entry in the family and friends graphic novel genre. Give this to fans of Raina -Telgemeier, Shannon Hale, Varian Johnson, and -Nathan Fairbairn.

[An] environmentally savvy chapter book series opener set in Dominguez's Stella Díaz universe

A gently edifying and wholly genuine depiction of a young person navigating relationships.