School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Even though her middle school friends have all traded make-believe play for video games, memes, and parties, 12-year-old Lora Zi is reluctant to let go of childhood. An impromptu solo seance sparks a friendship with Alexa, a ghost girl who will never grow up. But despite Lora's efforts to avoid adulthood, she finds herself changing-reconnecting with the friends she feared had left her behind and making new ones. Meanwhile, Alexa reunites with Diana, her best friend from when she was alive. A children's book author, Diana has grown old in the years since Alexa's death, but she prides herself "on being a child at heart." Dialogue and illustrations have a lively, liquid flow. Yee's art is whimsical and engaging, reinforcing the graphic novel's themes of memory, magic, and change. The palette relies on shades of transition: the hues of dusk and dawn, of autumn and spring. Yee dedicates her book to "every child-and young adult-who is afraid of growing up," and her characters embody this theme, drifting apart and reuniting, pulling together and learning to let go. VERDICT A beautifully illustrated, bittersweet coming-of-age story for anyone grappling with the joy and sorrow of growing up, growing old, and moving on.-Amanda Charles, Los Angeles P.L.?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.