Believe Your Eyes

February 1, 2016
The husband-and-wife team of Doerrfeld (Matilda in the Middle) and Page (the Chicagoland Detective Agency series) launch the Cici: A Fairy’s Tale series about a Latina girl who discovers she is a fairy. With Cici’s 10th birthday approaching, she unexpectedly sprouts pink wings one morning. Her abuelita then reveals her own wings and tells Cici that the two of them are hadas, or fairies. Cici’s powers include “fairy sight”: her mother seems to use octopus arms to juggle multiple tasks one busy morning, while Cici’s younger sister retreats into a turtle shell, upset by their parents’ impending divorce. This is essentially a setup tale—a plot line in which Cici and her friend attend a hot tub party competing with Cici’s birthday plays into a follow-the-crowd vs. be-yourself dynamic that helps Cici decide whether to embrace her newfound magical heritage. While the plot is fairly thin, Doerrfeld and Page’s vivid cartoons are full of humorous details, while reflecting the deeply felt emotions of a family in transition. Ages 7–11. Author’s agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency.

May 1, 2016

Gr 3-5-Ten-year-old Cici has been through a lot. Her parents announce that they are getting divorced, she feels pressured by her friend to grow up, and she suddenly realizes she has magical powers. And now Cici has only one day to decide whether to keep her newfound powers or discard them. The story moves exceptionally fast, rapidly switching between scenes, which makes it difficult for readers to connect with the characters or learn about their motivations. Refreshingly, Cici's problems don't magically go away by the end, and while she loses some friends, she winds up with stronger ties to her family. The illustrations are colorful and wonderfully explore the magical world. VERDICT A decent graphic novel addition.-Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2016
Alongside changing friendships and her parents' imminent separation, Cici learns that she is also a hada, or fairy. Cici's 10th birthday isn't going quite how she imagined it. She won't be celebrating with her family and her best friend, Mia, like always: her dad's moved out, popular Hazel is throwing a hot-tub party on the same day, and she's unexpectedly sprouted a pair of shimmering pink wings. Cici's visiting abuela tells her that she is, like many of the women in her family, a hada. She has newfound powers besides the wings: she also has the "fairy sight," which lets her see people and situations around her as they truly are (like seeing mean-girl Hazel and her followers as a flock of chickens). Cici learns she has only one day to decide whether she wants to remain a hada or to surrender her powers forever--but with all the confusion about her parents and friends swirling about her, what should she choose? This first volume in a series offers surprisingly more depth than the pastel-pink fairy images might indicate. Conjured with a pleasing, candy-colored palette and surrounded by evocatively expressive secondary characters, Latina Cici is wholly likable, and her real-life concerns play out well juxtaposed with her more whimsical ones. A thoughtful and entertaining mix of fantasy and real-world problems. (Graphic fantasy. 7-12)

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March 15, 2016
Grades 2-4 So far, Cici's tenth birthday isn't shaping up well. For starters, her dad just left, her crazy abuela moved in, and her best friend wants to go to a party thrown by the popular girls. This all would be more than enough to handle, but on the morning of her birthday, Cici wakes up with . . . wings Thankfully, her grandmother is here to help her out, explaining that fairies run in the family, and Cici has begun to discover her powers. But Cici has only one day to decide if she wants to embrace her fairy heritage or forget and be human. The bold panels are large and bright, making it easy for younger readers to follow along. Cici's adventures are humorously depicted. Her fairy sight allows her to see things as they are, which means her multitasking mom suddenly has octopus arms, and the popular girls are all identical, chattering hens. The multicultural cast and universal themes make this a promising start to a series and a solid introduction to graphic novels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)