Review: SANITY & TALLULAH by Molly Brooks

Middle-grade graphic novels are a booming genre, and I haven't read nearly enough of them. SANITY AND TALLULAH by Molly Brooks is one that all teachers and librarians should pick up for the classroom, and one that all parents should buy for their kids. It is a great STEM book, and about two best friends. This is a book that will appeal to both genders and is full of fun and adventure. Also, there's a three-headed cat on the loose!

Sanity Jones is crazy smart. She managed to take old equipment and illegally create a kitten--albeit one with three heads, named Princess Sparkles, Destroyer of Worlds. She even genetically clones food for the kitten. Domestic animals are illegal on the space station, however, so Sanity and her best friend Tallulah need to keep her existence a secret. When Tallulah's mother discovers what Sanity has done, she confiscates the kitten. When the kitten escapes, nobody can find her--and now the station is having a lot of electrical system failures because something has been chewing on some very important cords.

Sanity and Tallulah don't believe that the damage is being caused by Princess Sparkles, Destroyer of Worlds, and want to figure out the mystery and find the kitten before the adults find her and remove her. But that's easier said and done. The fate of the faltering space station may be up to whether or not they can find the kitten before its too late and fix the problem!

The story itself is hard to talk about without spoilers, but it's fun and kids will be on the edge of their seats waiting to see what Sanity and Tallulah may or may not find, and what fate has in store for Princess Sparkles, Destroyer of Worlds.

I really loved how smart Sanity is and the things that she can do that not even the adults can. She makes the most amazing functioning equipment, and knows how to fix things in a heartbeat. The debut is now the first book in a series, with a second book, SANITY AND TALLULAH: FIELD TRIP, releasing this past fall. As the series continues, readers are in for more whip-smart inventions and save-the-day schemes from Sanity. We need more examples like Sanity for today's youth.

I had no clue what SANITY AND TALLULAH would be about going into it. I didn't even know it was sci-fi and took place in space. I also had no clue how whip-smart and impressive the characters would be. This is a book that would have absolutely flown past my radar if it weren't for a meet-and-greet with the author at a conference. This book is a gem and I can't wait to recommend it to kids everywhere!

SANITY AND TALLULAH by Molly Brooks was published on October 18, 2018 from Disney Hyperion Books and is available at bookstores everywhere.