A tween girl who consistently works to please others searches for her true self when her anonymous webcomic goes viral in Mallory in Full Color by Elisa Stone Leahy (Tethered to Other Stars), a spirited middle-grade novel about the multitudinous splendor of the self.
Twelve-year-old Mallory Marsh never lets anyone down. She stretches herself thin to help her overworked single mom, keeps anything a classmate might need in her backpack, and orders whatever pizza her friends like. She even hides her anger when her mom says her "doodles" are a waste of time; in fact, Mallory's secret webcomic, Metal-Plated Heart, modeled after life at her school, has thousands of readers. Keeping this a secret proves challenging, though. When someone copies her characters on a flyer for an after-school comics club, she joins to find out who her fan is and to ensure her identity remains unknown. Noa, an "adorable" enby tween Mallory meets via the club, asks her to participate in a drag queen story time. Mallory, whose anxiety melts away when Noa smiles, agrees to lip sync despite hating performing. The deceptions pile up but begin toppling as her friends catch on to her inconsistencies and, eventually, the webcomic's similarities to the school.
Mallory's people-pleasing and conflict avoidance stem from her engaging battle with humanity's most difficult question: Who am I? Boldly inked panels from her incredible sci-fi comic (drawn by Maine Diaz, illustrator of What Will I Do with My Love Today) begin each chapter and mirror Mallory's dilemma and her missteps at solving it. "I can do hard things," Mallory tells herself. And she can, in this punchy and empowering middle-grade novel. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer