Fantasy & Science Fiction

Valenti, Karla, and Islenia Mil. Lola. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.

Lola is our young protagonist who lives in a beautiful home in Mexico City surrounded by magic that is only visible to her. When both her brother and a tree in her backyard become very ill, Lola must go on a fantastic adventure to Floresta in order to help heal her brother Alex. In Lola, Valenti has built a perfect balance of fantastical realism, moving fluidly through both reality and the imaginative world. A reader can easily follow along and feel immersed fully in both Mexico City and Floresta. The events throughout are related; Lola must visit the magical land in order to help find healing in the realistic world.

Valenti's use of magic and a fantastical land helps younger readers as they navigate the heavy topic of loss, grief, and guilt. Although Lola bravely faces her fears, she must face the difficult truth in letting go of Alex in order for him to heal. Alex also reveals some of his illness in the final chapters with dialogue that brings the reader back to reality as they learn the truth of why Alex has been ill. Readers will be able to understand the truth at the heart of this story and the significance of all that Lola and Alex have been through, both together and on their own, as they navigate this difficult journey of loss. 

This original story has a gorgeous, memorable setting in Floresta. The settings are appropriate for Lola's journey, bringing in cultural significance and symbolism of grief and familial relationships. Valenti paints a vivid picture of Lola, Lola's family, and Floresta with her lyrically inspired words. She creates credible images that show thorough research went into her storytelling. Through Valenti's imagination, readers are able to dive into a new world and learn a difficult but important lesson. After the final chapter, a reader is left to explore their emotional journey of the change that our characters went through. This book makes you wonder about the connection between loves ones, even after death.

Van Eekhout, Greg. Weird Kid. Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022.

In Weird Kid, the protagonist Jake is a kid with a mysterious identity that even his parents try to keep hidden. After weird events start happening around town, sinkholes filled with goo appearing, Jake is able to partner up with his friend Agnes and finally use his "weird" qualities for good. While this adventurous story has out of this world moments, it is overwhelmingly set in reality. All events are related, as readers learn more about where Jake came from (a pile of goo as a baby which looks an awful lot like the goo in the sinkholes), why his parents have been hesitant to send him to school, and what capabilities he has that can be used to help save his town - and maybe the world!

The overwhelming theme in this story is self-acceptance. Middle grade readers will easily pick up on this theme and understand the significance for reading this story at this impressionable age. Friendship and accepting each other is also a theme that readers will be likely to take away from this read. While stories of kid aliens have been told many times in the past, this story feels fresh and original. van Eekhout mixes science fiction, humor, comic book references, and alien adventure to create an image of a normal American town that has something mysterious happening to it. In doing so, he has created a world where young readers are able to relate to the imagery and theme created. van Eekhout has clearly done his homework in researching both alien tropes and comic book references, as they are executed throughout without error. His creative imagination is clear from the first chapter, as a reader meets Jake getting ready for his first day of school, and immediately bonds to the protagonist. 

While this is science fiction, there is very little science fact. It is based solely on hypothesis. A reader will be encouraged to think about and discuss possibilities in the universe including other forms of life! They might be left wondering what they would do if they found out a classmate was an alien. Discussions could include if they would tell someone, befriend the alien classmate, or even if they would trust them to save the town. While this memorable and exciting read can be left for what it is at face value, it also encourages deeper conversation about emotional and mental effects of what used to seem impossible becoming a reality. 



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