I love Erin Entrada Kelly's writing and I adore Marisol. It was so fun to revisit this adorable girl, her friends and family and her quirks and fears. I love reading the way the people in Marisol's circle help her navigate life and I love the way she is brave despite anxiety. This book has the humor and heart I've grown to expect in the Marisol Rainey books. I enthusiastically recommend this series to students in my library!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for the advanced reader copy of this book. I've now purchased it for my elementary library!

Marisol Rainey is a great new character, and this book is just as great as the others. I am so glad this series is available for my little readers!

Much like the first book in the series, this one was super cute. Marisol is relatable and has fears and experiences that are pretty universal. I think readers will surely see themselves in Marisol and her friends. I took off one star for a bit of confusion as to the focus of the book. At times I wasn’t sure if the focus was Marisol’s fear of Daggers the dog, teaching Felix how to ride a bike, or Jada’s worries about being replaced as Marisol’s friend. For a short book there was a lot going on, but I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a good nice story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this DRC.
I love this series, the pictures and the simple but very important story. It would have been great to know it was ok to be afraid of things when I was much younger. Being afraid of a dog is a good thing but having it acknowledged and knowing how to deal with that fear is even better.


#OnlyOnlyMarisolRainey #NetGalley

I absolutely love Marisol Rainey! She worries a lot. In this story she is worrying about a neighborhood dog that is missing. It is a big dog and Marisol has convinced herself that the dog will attack her if she sees it in the neighborhood. Her mother does a great job of walking her through strategies to help her with this fear. Her neighborhood friends add a friendship element to the story as her closest friend works through some jealousy when a third neighbor is added to their adventures. This series is a must have for my library.

All kids have fears--some common, others not. The reader gets to navigate Marisol's journey in facing her fears. Fans of the series will love this latest installment.

Marisol is a delightful heroine, we love these cute chapter books! Great for kids with anxiety, or those who are trying to understand their friends who are.

This is my favorite Marisol Rainey book yet! The series continues, with Marisol finding she's growing and changing as she encounters family and friends.

Join the "Marisol" reading club! Recommended for ages 6 and up. Share this one with your family.

Marisol is back, and this time she is teaching her friend Felix how to ride a bike, so he can go on adventures with her and her best friend, Jada. In addition to trying to be include a friend, Marisol deals with Jada's jealousy of Marisol's attention to Felix.

I adore the Marisol Rainey books for my new chapter book readers! Marisol is a sweet, thoughtful little girl with problems and anxieties that many kids face. Throughout this series, I've been enormously impressed with Erin Entrada Kelly's understanding and handling of young children's anxieties, fears and worries. I love the multiple ethnicities, backgrounds, and family units depicted in this series as well. This is an excellent series for new chapter book readers and fans of the Junie B. Jones, Kylie Jean, or Clementine series of books. Great investment for elementary school libraries.

As always, Erin Entrada Kelly doesn’t disappoint, and this newest addition to the Marisol Rainey series will be a huge hit with readers! Loved the self-advocacy in Marisol in this one, and the characters (and animals) will really resonate with readers! Definitely adding this title to our library shelves.

I love Marisol Rainey, and each story is just so warm and cozy. In this one, Marisol learns how to balance friendships, teach her friends some new skills, and finds the courage to make a new and unexpected friend. I love the way Erin Entrada Kelly tells Marisol's story simply, but also from a different perspective. I loved seeing Marisol come into her own in this book

Third in the series about Marisol Rainey. Love how she names special objects in her life. She conqueres another "fear" and grows as a person!

I am so excited to get this in the hands of my 5th graders before the end of the year! I know they will love the illustrations and the story of Marisol as much as I did. Marisol is a character who most kids will relate to, and others will wish they related to her! Marisol is such a great friend, students will close this book having learned several lessons while also reading a great story.



I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Marisol Rainey has a problem. Daggers has gotten loose. He’s the big dog who lives on her favorite bicycle route. She love to ride her bike, Ginny, with her best friend Jada and her bike, Bunny, around the neighborhood. But one house has a fence and on the other side of the fence is a big dog that Marisol thinks of as Daggers.

Only, he’s not behind his fence anymore. There are posters up around the neighborhood that says that he’s missing. And that his name is Gregory. And that he’s friendly. But just because he’s friendly to the people who own him doesn’t mean he’ll be friendly to everyone. It doesn’t mean he’ll be friendly to Marisol.

Marisol decides to try their friend Felix. Felix says he can communicate with animals. Maybe she can get Felix to talk to Gregory. She asks him, and he says he’ll try but it may not work if Gregory is not in the same place as he is. But Marisol promises to teach him how to ride a bike in exchange for his trying to talk to Gregory.

But Felix has trouble learning to ride his bike. And even with Felix trying to talk to Gregory, Marisol is still scared of him. And then Jada starts acting like she’s unhappy with Felix, or maybe with Marisol, and Marisol doesn’t know why. Will she be able to figure out how to deal with her fears and help her friends out?

One thing that helps Marisol is to learn more about dogs. While German shepherds are big, her mother also points out that they are known for being loyal, courageous, and confident. Marisol points out that she’s not like a German shepherd, because even though she’s loyal, she doesn’t feel courageous or confident. So her mother does some research on her phone and finds out that Marisol is like a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, sweet, gentle, and affectionate.

Like Marisol herself, this book is sweet, gentle, and affectionate. Author Erin Entrada Kelly brings Marisol to life with gentle adventures that help readers deal with their own anxieties and challenges. In Only, Only Marisol Rainey, Marisol has to face her questions about her fears, her friendships, and the possibility of falling. These are big topics, but Marisol brings her thoughtfulness and awareness to the situations as best she can, and she knows to ask her mom and dad for help when she feels like she’s in over her head.

I love Marisol for her big heart and her curious mind, and I think she will appeal to young readers who worry about asking too many questions or about how their friends are feeling or about big dogs or about trying teach someone how to ride a bike when you don’t know how to teach someone how to ride a bike. It’s her sweetness and sensitivity that brings so much to her stories, and even as an adult reading the Marisol Rainey books, I find myself comforted by how much she cares. The world is better for having Marisol in it, and the readers who share in her stories are better for it too.

Egalleys for Only, Only Marisol Rainey were provided by HarperCollins Children’s Books through NetGaley, with many thanks.

Only, Only Marisol Rainey is a delightful book about an anxious young girl named Marisol who is always contemplating the ‘what ifs’ of life. Her fears can sometimes run away with her and cause her overwhelming distress. One of Marisol’s biggest fears is of a large dog she has nicknamed ‘Daggers.’ Marisol worries that ‘Daggers’ might eat her. Throughout the book, Marisol continues to work through her fears and becomes confident to deal with her anxiety.

Additionally, Marisol is also a kind and compassionate friend who is always looking for ways to help others. Marisol found a way to obtain a bicycle for her friend Felix and taught him how to ride in order that he could join herself and Jada in their bike riding adventures. Simultaneously, she helped Jada resolve her jealously of Felix so that they could all be friends. When Daggers (Gregory) runs away, Marisol finds him and returns him to his owners. Thereafter, she and her friends visited Gregory frequently so that he could spend more time outside.

Marisol is a relatable character that the author cleverly uses to empower the reader in solving their own difficulties.

I loved this book and look forward to reading more children’s books by this author. I also adore the illustrations as they remind me of some of my childhood books.

The best place for this book would be on every child’s, grandparents, and elementary school bookshelf.

I received this advanced reader’s copy from the Author/Illustrator Erin Entrada Kelly, Harper Collins Publisher, and NetGalley. This is a voluntary review, and all comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Marisol Rainey is anxious, although she doesn't know that's the word for it. Her brain is constantly spinning with questions and worries, and when a neighbor's German shepherd gets loose, she very nearly goes into overdrive. How is she supposed to focus on riding bikes with her best friend Jana or teaching her other friend Felix how to ride a bike with them if the dog she privately calls "Daggers" is on the loose?

Kelly does an admirable job showing us how Marisol copes with her fear and anxiety as she also deals with social problems (Jana's jealous of Felix, for example). It starts slowly, with Marisol learning to think of "Daggers" by his real name, Gregory, and what the right questions are to ask in order to help her to cope with him being potentially around every corner. The social issues are likewise handled delicately, showing us without spelling things out so that young readers can figure things out on their own, which is very important for the age group. The illustrations, which are cute and frequent, also provide more information, such as how to approach a dog you don't know or what Marisol's spinning thoughts feel like to her.

Concerned readers should know that everything does end well, vis a vis Gregory, and the ending promises us more adventures with Marisol. That's something to look forward to - this isn't as involved as Kelly's middle grade novels, but it carries her trademark sensitivity and attention to detail.

How did I not know about Marisol Rainey?? What a fun-loving, cute character.

The third book in the Maybe Marisol series, Only, Only Marisol Rainey is a delightful story of the compassion and empathy of a little girl. Not only does Marisol show compassion and empathy towards her friends, but despite her fears, she shows it towards pets as well.

I will be adding this series to my classroom bookshelf!

Marisol Rainey is one of my favorite characters in kidlit. She’s relatable and interesting! She’s navigating life and her fears and worries and shows readers how to approach similar situations. She makes readers feel they are not alone in what they are experiencing. This is her third adventure and I’ve loved all three. Every time I read one, I think how wonderful they would work as a read aloud or a book club title. So much worth discussing whether it’s a small group of students or a whole class. Erin Entrada Kelly’s storytelling is superb! Charming, delightful, and full of heart! Now what kind of dog would a book with those descriptors be?

Third in the Marisol Rainey series, Erin Entrada Kelly's latest is as charming, funny, and uplifting as its predecessors. Marisol's emotions rise to the surface in simple, honest prose that invites connections and giggles at the warm humor and expressive illustrations. I'd recommend this one to younger middle grade and chapter book readers, fans of Ramona Quimby, Clementine, and Jada Jones.

I enjoyed this book and seeing how Marisol Rainey worked through her struggles. It was nicely written and easy to follow. A quick read that I wanted to get through the end of it. I will recommend this to my young readers.