Cici’s Journal by Joris Chamblain is a cute detective story for children. Cici has decided she wants to be a writer when she gets older, ever since meeting Mrs. Flores, the writer who came to her school to show them some techniques for writing. This leads Cici to some interesting cases. The first case she comes across is Mr. Mysterious. She sees him come from the woods one day covered in paint and is curious to know where he has been and what he has been up to. Here start the investigation, Cici and her friends, Erica and Lena. 

The style was interesting, with a graphic novel setup for most of the book while also including letters, journaling, and newspaper clippings. I think it was nice to change it from time to time. It helped to keep me interested by giving some verity. 

I like that there are teaching moments in this book, like when Cici isn’t always careful to show those closest to her how much she cares about them. While she is on a case, she gets obsessed and nothing else seems to be of importance. Cici makes some bad decisions along the way and has to find her way through some tough situations with a little help along the way.

I also loved how she shows a caring side when she sees her subjects struggling with something and is eager to help them in any way she can.

I'm not fond of how she sneaked around and lied. However, without them, there wouldn’t be the lessons within.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and believe Chamblain did an excellent job at storytelling and the illustrations by Aurelio Neyret were very well done. I enjoyed the artwork at the zoo. This book style could potentially help children who get bored easily and struggle to focus with its occasional changes. I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys children’s stories, simple mysteries, and graphic novels. 

Last but not least, I want to thank NetGalley and First Second Books for the free copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC

This is a great 9-12 graphic novel, beautiful illustrations. Lovely wholesome read

First of all, WOW the artwork for this was absolutely stunning! I loved the warmth and slightly cartoonish realism, it meant I was totally immersed in the story and matched the vibe of the book perfectly. It felt like such a cosy adventure!

The stories themselves were lovely to read too. The mystery element was fairly simple in my opinion, but appropriate for the age category and still really engaging. I enjoyed that we got to switch between the graphic novel sections and her journal entries, as these added more depth to the story and investigation. Ultimately I rated it four stars as at times it felt somewhat unrealistic in a way I don't feel the author intended, but it definitely didn't ruin the story!

A fun diary-esque graphic novel that is both engaging and fun to read. Really enjoyable story and the art was adorable!

First of all, the artwork in this book is absolutely unreal and STUNNING! Second of all, I fell in love with Cici and her hobbies. I am such a sucker for books that feature science, nature, and journalism! I would definitely revisit this series again to follow along with Cici on her adventures.

This was a very cute graphic novel. We follow Cici as she chronicles her life in her journal. She likes to spy on the adults and see what they're up to. Soon she stumbles across a mysterious man that disappears into the forest with giant tubs of paint every day. What's he doing with all that paint? Cici is going to find out! And that's exactly what she does. This was a great graphic novel. I loved that it was filled with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles. It just made it feel more like a real journal that way.

I absolutely adored this graphic novel featuring a young detective and the neighborhood mysteries she's been investigating.

In the first half of the book, she is intrigued by a man who seemingly disappears for hours in the woods. Together with her friends, she discovers a world forgotten by time and gives it another life.

In the second half, loneliness over her friends' summer trips away from their homes forces Cici into investigating yet another "mystery". In this one, the story revolved more on Cici's personal character development rather than the work she has done as a young detective.

I guess what I loved most about this graphic novel is how closer to kids/preteens Cici and her friends are depicted. it's cute and fun, but it didn't shy away from the realities of growing up, of stumbling while discovering your unique personality and how difficult it is to grow up a little different from everyone else.

I also loved that the supporting characters surrounding Cici were amazing and had their own personal character developments as well. It gave the whole comic wonderful depth and had me rooting for Cici to shed away her childish recklessness and immaturity so that she might see how beautiful it is to be surrounded by friends and family like hers.

I highly recommend this graphic novel, but check the CWs (if there are any in the book, i dont remember. if there isn't check other reviews) bec there were parts that might feel heavy despite the overall lightness of both the stories.

Cici's ten years-old and wants to become a novelist; to do so, she likes to observe people around her and discover their secret stories, so she always find herself involved in some kind of mysterious adventure.
Cici's adorable and she talks and acts exactly like the ten-year-old she is; the adventures in this book are original and entertaining, and also profound and bittersweet. I also really liked the style of the drawings, I think they're really cute and cartoonish. I highly recommend it!

Cici dreams of becoming a writer, so her author friend tells her to watch people and make up stories about them. Cici notices a man carrying paint cans into the woods every weekend, and she needs to find out what he’s doing. She follows him and eventually discovers a beautiful secret. In another mystery, Cici finds a library book card for a book that has been taken out by the same woman over and over again. Cici’s curiosity takes over again and she has to investigate why the woman keeps reading the same book.

Cici was quite a curious child. She often seemed nosy, when she would watch people and want to find out what they were doing. I didn’t really like this quality, but Cici ended up helping the people who she investigated, so it worked out in the end.

I liked that this story featured elderly characters. There aren’t a lot of older people in children’s books. Cici was able to help them relive their pasts and create some nice memories. Though Cici was nosy, she ended up helping people.

Cici’s Journal is a good middle grade graphic novel.

Thank you First Second for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute story. I liked the colors, it was a fun, heartwarming read. Perfect for middle grade kids.

Cici is an aspiring novelist who gets most of her inspiration from mysteries around her small town. While she tries to piece the clues of two local mysteries together, she ends up alienating her friends and family in the process. These are cute, colorful, fun, heartwarming little graphic novel installments that middle grade readers will enjoy.

This was a wonderful book, interspersing journal pages with graphic novel panels to tell the story of an 11 year old girl, Cici and her friends solving mysteries in her small French provincial town. The first story revolves around a mysterious man with paint cans in the forest which leads to a wonderful adventure that brings joy to the whole town in the end. The second adventure revolved around an old woman observed taking the bus every week at precisely the same time with precisely the same book (extra points for that one ending up in the local library!) I loved everything about this book. How often do you observe strangers and ask yourself what they might be doing? I loved that Cici had the wherewithal to follow the clues to the end, and that by solving these simple life mysteries she brought joy to others around her. Plus, Cici and her mother have some mysteries of their own that I hope will shake out in future installments!

***ARC provided by Netgalley for honest review***

Cici's Journal by Joris Chamblain was a fun and creative middle grade graphic novel about a junior detective and her life and mysteries she finds along the way. It was designed just like a real kid's journal that she had filled in; the stories were very sweet and they had good lessons in them. Great book for kids!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

This book is so much fun! It is part graphic novel, part scrapbook. There are letters, notes, illustrations, and a great adventure by Cici. I can't wait to pick up a copy for my kids - they will love to explore the story of Cici and the zoo. I know they will also love the format - there is just so much to unpack here and it will keep reluctant readers interested.

Cici’s Journal is a mix of graphic novel and journal pages written by a girl named Cici, who loves writing and mysteries. The book is split into two parts, each focused around a different mystery. The first is a mysterious man who disappears into the woods - where could he be going? The second is about a woman who keeps checking out the same library book every week.

While some parts of this story were cute, there were a lot of issues with it. First of all, I had a big problem with the fact that Erica, Cici’s friend who is the only Black character in the story, had no real character traits other than complaining and being angry. Cici mentions several times that Erica always has something to complain or grumble about. When Cici is being a bad friend, Erica gets angry - visually, almost cartoonishly angry - and blows up at her, while white friend Lena is the mediator. While Lena isn’t much more of a developed character than Erica, she does have other aspects to her character - for example, she loves to take photos. Erica, though, we know almost nothing about other than that she’s friends with Lena and is always complaining and angry. While sometimes this anger is justified - Cici is being a bad friend - it comes off as very stereotypical and was a poor idea.

Also, this story apparently takes place in modern day, considering things such as a poster for a 2017 event. So why does the library still use checkout cards where someone writes their name down? They have their catalog online, as seen by Cici looking up a book. There is no way their checkout procedure wouldn’t also be online. This may feel nitpicky, and the checkout card forms the entire basis of the part two mystery, but it’s really unrealistic. The librarian’s behavior was also terrible. This is probably more obvious to me since I’m a librarian, but the amount of information she gives out about one of the patrons is appalling. This is completely unprofessional and could get her fired - librarians can’t just tell people what others are reading, what their habits are, etc! She’s also super judgmental about the fact that the older woman only reads one book, and while I’m not saying there aren’t judgmental librarians, it just felt like a poorly written character written by someone who doesn’t actually understand how libraries work. (This whole plotline made that abundantly clear, honestly.)

There are some cute, moving parts to this book, and I even found myself tearing up at some of the zoo scenes. Overall, though, I think the negative aspects of the story - especially the stereotypical, undeveloped Black friend - completely outweigh the positive ones. Giving it two stars because the artwork was cute and for the few sweet/interesting aspects of part one.

Thank you to the author, the publisher First Second Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A graphic novel for children about friendship, family, love and life.

Cici is a girl who wants to be a published author, and she loves mysteries. In the summer, Cici starts to follow and resolve little mysteries through her town. A mysterious man in the forest, an old woman going every Tuesday to a specific place...

I loved the story, I loved the characters. There are a lot of things that are talked in this book that I myself find them so beautiful and so necessary for children to be there. It talks about life, about what love and friendship means, about family.

One of the things that I loved most about the book was the friendship between Cici and her two best friends: Erica and Lena. It is a friendship built out of years, since they were little kids. They are 11 now, so they are not so old, really. They are still children.

I liked the illustrations and the way the book is written and how it is written.

If you're looking for a book full of fun, friendship, family, love, and topics about life, this is your book. This book is perfect for children, but I do think that it is also perfect for every age.

#CicisJournal #Netgalley

Cici's Journal is a unique graphic novel written by Joris Chamblain.

Gotta say, the unique art style is what pulled me in during the first few pages, but the intriguing story is what will keep you. The story about Cici, a young writer, is a fun one. It's unique, mysterious and will pull you along as you read. I like the various ways the author changed things up - the journals, the pictures - it stands out among the crowd, as they say.

Overall, this is a great, unique read! I wasn't the target audience for sure, but it was cool!

Two out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I would have love to be Cici as a young girl! Have that amazing mind (and luck), great friends and a selfless heart that unwraps a mystery into people's amends with their past and a starting point for a happy future!

This story gathers to great adventures of Cici (a ten-year-old sweet girl) that (sometimes) together with her closest friends Erica and Lena, will catch the loose thread of a mystery - an unknown character or repetitive behavior - in hopes of uncovering that secret that we all carry inside.

In her quest, she will also have to face the consequences of her actions and decisions, growing up and catching to the fact that sometimes our biggest secret lays deep in our past regrets.

A lovely story that takes the reader to a zoo with very lively animals and to a forgotten library wing.

A beautiful series that will allow young readers to learn about the difficult things in live while the adults will feel the heartwarming sensation that things can always be better.

An e-ARC of this book was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cici’s journal was a very sweet graphic novel about a young girl who wants to be a writer and likes to investigate mysteries. I really enjoyed the multi-media beginning where we saw some pages from Cicic’s journal and learned about her a bit before the story started. I also really enjoyed the art style. It was fun and vibrant and expressive.
I think that this story was a really sweet story about friendship and following your passions. I really think this would be a great book for young aspiring writers and kids who are interested in adventures and secrets. It was a very sweet little story that was just filled with wholesomeness and a little bit of mystery.

Rating: 3.5/5

I love Cici, she's so genuine and loveable. The story is good and cute. I cannot wait to read the rest. The drawings and coloring are great!