Two-time Pura Belpré illustration honoree Angela Dominguez (the Stella Diaz series; Mango, Abuela, and Me) gives young readers a hilarious and exceedingly relatable series opener, Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers, about a nine-year-old's first time navigating social media.
Gabby Torres is the youngest member of the Sea Musketeers, a group of kids whose mission is to spread awareness about protecting the ocean. Gabby proposes they create a social media account, telling them that she helps her mom with social media posts for her bookstore: "I mostly give my mom a thumbs-up after she posts, but they don't need to know that." Now that social media "expert" Gabby has the go-ahead from her fellow Sea Musketeers, she must convince her grownups that she can manage a social media account like a "mature" kid.
Dominguez uses tons of white space in this illustrated chapter book, allowing plenty of room for her friendly, accessible text and her dynamic, black-lined spot art. The author/illustrator highlights important and humorous moments in text and images, such as when Gabby sneaks onto the social media site: her body faces the reader and her glasses fill one half of her face, a massive, manic smile filling the other. Dominguez balances humor with realism, making facing an online troll (Unicorn$R4babiez) a learning experience for Gabby. Early reader fans of Remy Lai and Colleen AF Venable should find a lot to love in this kind, comical, and optimistic series starter. -- Kharissa Kenner, library media specialist, Churchill School and Center