Secret Diary

March 12, 2012
The buildings in 12-year-old Lou’s neighborhood may look a bit odd, but she’s surrounded by realistic people and problems—a mother who’s more enthusiastic about gaming than finishing her SF novel, inept at cooking, and too shy to admit she’s attracted to the guy who just moved into their building; a best friend who listens to Lou’s rants, but tartly cuts them down; and a cute boy she longingly peeks at across the street, even when she notices him picking his nose. A casual, relaxed plot develops out of these characters. The action is sequential, though most pages are self-contained episodes. Design of the characters is manga-influenced—big, flexible mouths and wild hair that looks like roughly cut construction paper, for example, but the painted art is done with a rich, glowing palette. Although nominally aimed at girls, it makes for enjoyable reading for both sexes and all ages. A sequel, Summertime Blues, is also available. Ages 9–14.

March 15, 2012
A beguiling import introduces the irresistibly plucky 12-year-old Lou, a French cousin to Jimmy Gownley's Amelia McBride. Lou lives in urban France with her mother, a bespectacled writer who spends her time procrastinating and obsessively playing video games rather than working on her science-fiction space epic. Like many preteens, Lou spends much of her time thinking about clothes, boys and friends and whether she may be too old to play with dolls. Lou utterly adores her neighbor Tristan, and her mother nurtures a similar crush of her own on another neighbor, Richard. What saves Lou from complete tweenage vapidity is a well-timed sense of dry humor with a dash of non-irritating precociousness. Lou's mother can be tempestuous as an adolescent herself, leaving Lou to act as her anchor, tempering her whims and acting as a voice of reason. This humor is heightened by visits with Memaw, Lou's maternal grandmother, who harbors penchants for both brussels sprouts and conflict. A pleasing palette ranging from vibrant brights to muted earth tones fills neat, orderly panels, creating a cohesive and tidy layout; only at the beginning and end of the volume do readers actually see Lou's diary, a collage of her thoughts and information about other characters. This publishes simultaneously with volume two, Summertime Blues. This lighthearted charmer will leave readers enchantees. (Graphic fiction. 9-12)

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July 1, 2012

Gr 5-9-These first two installments in this series introduce a scrappy mother/daughter duo who deal with life's problems with sarcastic humor, resiliency, and their own brand of love. Lou is a precocious 12-year-old growing up with a single mother who, with an addiction to video games and her dinner-burning antics, sometimes acts more like a child than her daughter does. (The story of Lou's missing father is explained in the second book and becomes a point of suspense for future titles.) The happily unconventional family dynamic works for them, and Lou navigates through first crushes, helping her mom get a date with their cute new neighbor, and dealing with her grumpy grandmother on vacation, all with the help of her best friend and a comfortingly lazy cat. The plot moves in scenes that are broken down, but not differentiated; each spread has its own mini-story, but they are all connected and in a general sequence. There are some mature themes, such as alcohol use by the mother, but they are dealt with in a realistic manner that fits in the context. The art is cartoony and cheerful, but also illustrates emotion as necessary. Readers, especially girls, will enjoy these strong, funny characters and the true-to-life dilemmas that they face and overcome.-Rita Meade, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
Grades 4-7 Twelve-year-old Lou lives with her single mother, an aspiring novelist who tends to play video games most of the time. Lou likes to design her own clothes despite the mean girls who laugh at her, and she has one good friend in Mina. Lou also spends a lot of time spying on Tristan, the cute boy who lives across the street; she likes him but can't find the courage to talk to him. Meanwhile, a handsome man moves into their apartment building, and Lou thinks he is perfect boyfriend material for her mother, who, like her daughter, doesn't have the nerve to converse with him. Neel's bright and colorful art matches the mood of this humorous slice of life spiced with the possibility of romance for both daughter and mother. One mostly obscured bad word and a couple of panels showing Lou in her underwear and in the bathtub shouldn't be a problem for most elementary schools. The original French comic has won the Youth Prize of the Angouleme International Comics Festival. The second volume in the Lou! series (Summertime Blues) is being published simultaneously.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)