by Jeremy Whitley (Author) Jamie Noguchi (Illustrator)
Tara Smith's parents are super strict with all their rules and routines, and Tara is a dutiful daughter.
Rule #1: No friends her own age. Rule #2: keep her bracelet on, or else. But when she breaks her routine--and then loses her bracelet--she's in trouble. Now outed as an extraterrestrial after wielding fire and losing her humanoid form, Tara is captured by the government. She's given two options: get shipped far away where she won't be a danger to anyone or stay on Earth and join a school for other extraterrestrial girls like her.
Things at the school aren't easy--especially for the girl whose only friends were textbooks. But Tara's goal to learn how to control her powers is soon sidelined by the discovery that the people she's called Mom and Dad all these years aren't her parents. With her not-parents still out there, Tara must rely on others for the first time to figure out who she really is before she's kidnapped a second time.
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Tara, 15, has spent her whole life obeying the rules her parents have set for her. Convinced that if she follows their exacting regimen, she will accomplish great things. Tara gets her wish to become extraordinary when she inadvertently breaks her routine and spontaneously combusts during trigonometry. Tara realizes that nothing about her previous life was real and that she is in fact an alien. She's faced with two choices: get shipped back to her home system, which up until now she never knew existed, or stay on Earth and join a school for extraterrestrial girls, where she will learn how to live with both her true self and the other races of the galaxy. The characters in this graphic novel are a joy, depicted with wings, tentacles, fur, scales, and other weird and wonderful features. The palette is appealing, with bold, saturated colors highlighting the student variety and simple yet futuristic backgrounds that allow character development to take center stage. A varied panel layout advances the action smoothly and creates lots of drama. VERDICT An engaging title with an entertaining story and deft use of color and design. The clever premise will entice readers, who will eagerly anticipate future installments in this new series.—Kelley Gile, Cheshire P.L., CT
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission."A fully entertaining graphic novel by the team of author/storyteller Jeremy Whitley and artist/illustrator Jamie Noguchi, School for Extraterrestrial Girls #1: Girl on Fire launches a fun and original science fiction series that is especially and unreservedly recommended for elementary school, middle school, and community library graphic novel collections." -Midwest Book Review