Brother and sister team, Matthew and Jennifer Holm, bring us another sassy adventure starring Babymouse in their 10th graphic novel of the series. In this adventure, the very klutzy Babymouse is encouraged by Henry, the new transfer kid in school, to try-out for the school musical. While she hopes for the lead role, she ends up making understudy to her arch nemesis Felicia Furrypaws. Will Babymouse get any stage time? Or will Felica Furrypaws steal the show?The illustrations follow the Holms’ typical style of black and white drawings with thick, bold lines. I like the use of the pink highlights within the drawings to let the reader know that we have switched out of the present time and into Babymouse’s fantasies (something I didn’t pick up on initially).While I’m fairly new to the graphica genre and not yet convinced this is a genre for me, I definitely see the appeal for emergent readers or readers who are into comic-like books. I found this book to be a quick read with easy-to-read dialogue and interjections from the narrator, however, I often times was left feeling confused with the constant back-and-forth between the present time and Babymouse’s fantasies… but maybe had I started with book one of the series I wouldn’t have felt this way? I also felt that the humor in this novel is not geared towards the intended audience… the references to many old-school musicals are not ones that students at this age will recognize or may have heard of. Another thought on my mind is that I wonder if this series only appeals to girls? As a teacher, I would use this book as a recommendation for students (girls) transitioning into chapter books or for those that love spunky, imaginative characters with an extra dose of girl power. I would also include this book in a “genre talk” as I introduced students to the graphic novel genre. The first think I thought when I read this story was how much children would enjoy it. The comedy is just appropriate for grades 4th and 5th. I normally enjoy books with a wider variety of colors. Babymouse only used black and white tones, and pink. I think it was a perfect representation for this novel though. It allowed the pages to not be extremely busy and allows the students to focus on the reading material. Throughout the book most of the pages were filled with onomatopoeias. The large amount of sound words basically let the words tell the story. The movements and strokes of the character drawing allows students to read along with story without a lot of descriptions. I am rating this book a 4 out of 5 stars because I am very supportive of books that children enjoy and this comical like novel is definitely a favorite.
