Rating: 9.0/10
Synopsis
A coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel featuring a girl with severe allergies who just wants to find the perfect pet!
At home, Maggie is the odd one out. Her parents are preoccupied with getting ready for a new baby, and her younger brothers are twins and always in their own world. Maggie loves animals and thinks a new puppy to call her own is the answer, but when she goes to select one on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She’s severely allergic to anything with fur!
Can Maggie outsmart her allergies and find the perfect pet? With illustrations by Michelle Mee Nutter, Megan Wagner Lloyd uses inspiration from her own experiences with allergies to tell a heartfelt story of family, friendship, and finding a place to belong.
Review
Thanks to Scholastic for the uncorrected proof copy of Allergic: A Graphic Novel for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.
Allergic was a fantastic story that will truly resonate with 5th and 6th graders. All of the situations and emotions portrayed evoke what it is truly like to want something so badly it hurts. I believe this is going to be a hit with its intended middle-grade audience.
I can only imagine what Maggie is going through. To be the oldest of three (the other two being twin boys) with another on the way requires a ton of responsibility and a good bit of self-sacrifice. Then, you finally get the opportunity to have the one thing you have always wanted: a puppy… only to find out you are highly allergic to it and all other creatures with fur or feathers.
How demoralizing is that?
The thing that is difficult for kids to come to term with is disappointment. Sure, adults have a tough time with it as well, but kids don’t have the ability to see a road ahead. So for Maggie, having the one thing she wants most in the world utterly ripped away from her (for her own health and safety) is end-of-the-world type stuff. Bless her, she tries to think of every conceivable pet that could fill this void and absolutely nothing works out. At least she has the opportunity to make a new friend when a single dad and his daughter move in next door.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel and the illustrations were perfection all the way through.
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