A delightful graphic novel for primary and/or lower secondary students. Full colour with pleasing illustrations and some pages of handwritten text. The values of respect for others, honesty, empathy and trust are front and centre in this mystery story. This will be a good buy for our school library.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The art in this book is excellent, and the stories are interesting and fun. It's on the wordier side for a graphic novel, so probably best recommended to stronger readers or ones who like to take their time. My one reservation was that the main character has two best friends, one black and one white, and while the white one likes photography and has a younger brother, the black character's main personality trait seems to be that she complains a lot. She does justifiably call the main character out for things, but it would have been helpful if she had more facets to balance out her character. Neither of the best friends get a lot of character work, which is fine in the context of the story, but I am wary of the fact that the one black character is so consistently characterized as angry.

A sweet story about mystery and adventure! This graphic novel follows the story of a girl named Cici and her misadventures and mysteries. In part 1 of the book Cici is trying to find out more about the mysterious man she spies on in the woods who is always covered in paint and carries various tins with him. In part 2 of the book she is hoping to help an old lady and her lost loved one. Filled with gorgeous artwork, super fun detailing like journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles. This is a wonderful collection of adventures about a girl exploring and finding the magical in the mundane.

*Thanks netgalley and First Second Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This graphic novel has two stories in it. They both follow Cici, an inquisitive girl that wants to be a novelist, and sees mysteries everywhere she goes! In the first story she sees an old man carrying buckets through the woods, and wonders, where is he going? In the second, Cici sees an old woman every week with the same book taking the bus, and she wants to know, what is with the book, and where is she going?! Both stories show Cici investigating, following clues, and taking notes to solve her mystery, even if it means ditching her friends, lying to her mom, and breaking some rules. In each she learns a valuable lesson about how you treat those you love.

I thought the format was really awesome. Interspersed with the normal graphic novel pages are note pages, hand written notes, photos, scrapbook bits, and even some interactive pages (if you have your own copy, of course). The art was lovely, and I enjoyed the stories as well (even if her friends were THE WORST).

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own