A tween girl who consistently works to please others searches for her true identity when her anonymous webcomic goes viral in Mallory in Full Color by Elisa Stone Leahy (Tethered to Other Stars), a spirited middle-grade novel about the multitudinous splendor of the self.
Twelve-year-old Mallory Marsh never lets anyone down. She stretches herself thin to help her overworked single mom; keeps anything a classmate might need in her backpack (extra pencils, period supplies, snacks), even if they don't return the favor; and orders whatever pizza her friends like. She even hides her anger when her mom says her "doodles" are a waste of time; in fact, Mallory's secret webcomic, Metal-Plated Heart, modeled after life at her school,has thousands of readers. When Comic Koala announces a competition, Mallory, who lied to meet the website's age minimum, enters, believing the cash prize will prove her art worthwhile.
Keeping the secret proves challenging. When someone copies her characters on a flyer for an after-school comics club, she joins to find out who her fan is and to ensure her identity remains unknown. To continue attending, however, she must end her commitment to the swim team, so she secretly uses her mom's e-mail to give herself an out. Meanwhile, Noa, an "adorable" enby tween Mallory meets via the club, asks her to participate in a drag queen story time. Mallory, whose anxiety melts away when Noa smiles, agrees to lip sync despite hating performing. The deceptions pile up and begin toppling as her friends catch onto her inconsistencies and, eventually, the webcomic's similarities to the school.
Mallory's people-pleasing and conflict avoidance stem from her engaging battle with humanity's most difficult question: Who am I? A self-portrait assignment cleverly parallels her confusion as she works on "patchwork pieces of a girl who had a million different words for who she was and still no face." Boldly inked panels from her incredible sci-fi comic (drawn by Maine Diaz, illustrator of What Will I Do with My Love Today) begin each chapter and mirror Mallory's dilemma and her missteps at solving it. Leahy tactfully builds in grounding reassurance through Noa ("I tried to be someone I wasn't for a long time. So I know what it's like. But I hope you don't think you need to do that around me"). Fueling Mallory's flame to figure herself out is the fight to defend drag queen story time from protestors. "I can do hard things," Mallory tells herself. And she can, in this punchy and empowering middle-grade novel. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer
Shelf Talker: A tween girl who works to please others searches for her true identity when her anonymous webcomic goes viral in this spirited middle-grade story about the multitudinous splendor of the self.