This is one of the most fun graphic novels I have read in ages! Huge kudos to Chanté Timothy for creating such an adorable, loveably, and nostalgic yet fresh character! I say nostalgic because many times while reading this I thought to myself how much it reminded me of Dexter's Lab or the Powerpuff Girls, but make no mistake this is uniquely different. First off, I want to just comment on how bright and fun the illustrations are, they really brought a lot of energy and entertainment to the story!

We follow Nova, a very smart young female scientist trying to find solutions but things get a bit out of hand. Nova has a great adventure requiring a science lab and has to address different creatures that come along. Loved how the goal is to reduce plastics, and every reader can learn something along the way from Nova and this graphic novel. This is an entertaining graphic novel for younger readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nosy Crow for providing a copy of this work for review.

This is a great graphic novel for early readers. It promotes science, drawing, and working together. I really enjoyed this cute creative story that also taught along the way.

What a great middle grade graphic novel! There is not enough representation of women and girls in STEM and even less so for BIPOC women and girls in STEM so it was amazing to see this representation. I can only imagine how much it will mean to little black girls to see a book with a main character who looks like them doing so much good!
Supa Nova is a sweet story of a young scientist out to make the world a better place by creating a plastic eating monster. When things get out of hand she relies on her sister, and scientist parents to help her save the day.
This was really cute and also educational. Timothy was able to mix facts into the narrative so that she was giving real science but never making it boring or like you were reading a science book. Very well done and I look forward to reading about Supa Nova's future adventures.

Supa Nova was proven to be a read for all ages. My 5 year old, myself and my 18 year old loved this book as tonight's read. My 5 year old loved that Nova looked like her and was super smart. She learned new things about science through this story. Supa Nova was a fun time with my girls. Can not wait for more adventures with Nova and her family.

Supa Nova follows the well-meaning but ill-advised adventure of youngster Nova who absolutely loves science—and being smarter than her big sister, Cassi (short for Cassiopeia—I love these characters’ names!). Their parents are scientists, too. Right away, Nova wants to use science for good. She has an idea to capture the sun’s rays to use as a power source so it would be free and accessible for everyone. The plot of this story, though, revolves around finding a scientific solution to the trash islands that are destroying our planet’s ecosystem.

I love a determined, confident protagonist for students to look up to. However, Nova’s also an authentic kid. She wants to solve the world’s plastic problem to help the world and its animals, sure, but she also wants “a big, shiny award” for doing it, and she doesn’t think through all of the possible ramifications before taking Chomp out of the lab. Ah, the hubris of youth.

The plot itself reads a little too young for my middle schoolers. It’s like a 3rd-5th grade amp up of Ada Twist, Scientist where the science goes off the rails into the fantastical. I think 6th-7th graders could accept some of the ridiculousness (a kid having their own secret lab, turning gum into a plastic-eating creature), but would probably not be able to get past wondering who would be funding all of the monster’s destruction. (Home renovation? Cars? Products from the mall? Um, skyscrapers?) If they can get past that and into the fantasy of it—despite it being a book supposedly about science—they’ll hopefully see the bigger picture: that, wow, so much stuff humans have made is plastic. There are real problems that can be solved by imaginative, inventive people—and that could be them.

Overall, this is a cute book. I do wish it had more of the scientific method in it. We see Nova fail a tiny bit before successfully creating Chomp, but I would love for readers to see more of the thinking, hypothesizing, and failing, failing, failing that comes with being a good scientist. I really liked that the author included the reality of the plastic island problem on Earth for readers… I just wish more of that reality were in the actual plot, since I’m not sure how many readers will look at that after-the-story-ends bit. I’d suggest this book and the rest of the series (which I’m guessing it’ll turn into) to elementary readers, for sure.

Supa Nova publishes June 3, 2025. Thanks so much to Publisher Spotlight/Nosy Crow via NetGalley for allowing me to check out this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I'm already recommending this book to people. This book combines advocacy for the climate crisis, and fun science experiment gone wrong action. It read really fast with lots of visual storytelling rather than relying too heavily on text, which in my opinion is a sign of a great graphic novel!

Nova is a genius, and when she learns that the world's plastic is taking over the ocean, she figures she can solve the problem. Even though scientists have discovered a bacteria that slowly eats plastic, it doesn’t work fast enough.
So, she goes down to her secret lab and creates a creature that will eat plastic. What could possibly go wrong, right?


Very cute middle grade graphic novel about a young scientist trying to solve problems, without thinking through what would happen when she does so. Of course, when things get worse and worse, she has to ask for help.


Funny, cute pictures. Good heroine. I think kids will enjoy reading about a genius their own age.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest raeview. This book will be published on the 3rd of June 2025.

I loved this graphic novel about a superhero scientist! Nova learns about how dangerous it is for the earth to have so much plastic and she gets to the lab and finds a solution -- with unintended consequences!
This story is funny and inspiring and Nova's family is warm, supportive, and smart like she is. I can't wait to read her next adventure!
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This was a great graphic novel! I learned a lot of things about plastic, such as the fact that there are mushrooms and worms in the world that consume and digest plastic! This is an incredible discovery. This book is fun, colorful and humourous, depicting a main character who has a natural sibling rivalry with her sister but who is also an individual and a genius in her own right. After learning about the creatures that digest plastic she goes to her secret lab and tries in invent something to help rid the world of plastic waste. In the end you as the reader learn about different problems with plastic as well as other tidbits while rooting for Super Nova's creation.