In this section we have given an account of some of the most notable series in the comic-graphic novel genre that are hitting the ground running this year, and this time we want to do the same with the novel series. Books where illustrations continue to have a notable weight, but only as a complement. Hence, most of them lose color in favor of becoming an entertainment or guide within the same page.
There we have Goa, the new character with which the children's best-seller Miriam Tirado has burst onto the youth scene. My name is Goa / Em dic Goa (B for Block), illustrated by Sheila de la Maza, follows the life of a 12-year-old teenager who, on her birthday, makes her only wish for everything to be the same as before. Her parents have separated, she's gotten her period, her name causes her more problems than anything else, and last but not least, her father's new partner is pregnant. Just a few days ago we received the second installment, How strong, Goa! / What a fort, Goa! (from 11 years old), with which she enters the new school year. Love is breathed in this new installment where Klaus takes a greater role.
Carasucia in the round world (Narval) is a small discovery signed by Patricia Jiménez and drawn in ink by Daniel Piqueras (10 years old), which follows the adventures of a small Persian cat called Carasucia, who is separated from his siblings after living in a cage from a pet store in a shopping center. Smart, curious, as brave as he is careful, a potential little lion, come on, unintentionally embarks on the mission to find his brothers, Ojopipa and Colorcaca, involved in an animal kidnapping plot. Written by Carasucia himself as a diary, it is surprising to read how a small animal can shuffle so much philosophy of life. In this first installment Carasucia only manages to find Ojopipa and his ending is seen as the beginning of another great adventure.
Another discovery is Grimwood (Blackie Books) created by the English author Nadia Shireen, whom we perhaps know best for her illustrator side (The Slug in Love). It is a series of adventures starring two little fox siblings, Nancy and Ted. Both survive in the city thanks to the leftovers from the containers and it seems to them that there cannot be any other place where foxes can live, until a cat appears claiming territory in a bad manner and both brothers must flee so that their integrity is not endangered. This is how they find Grimwood Forest, a very special place, full of very special animals, which they will end up calling home.
In the second installment, which arrives translated to Spain this October, everything gets complicated when the evil mayor of the neighboring town Twinklenuts gets it into his head to expand its borders and throw all the inhabitants of Grimwood out of their homes (from 7 years old). ).
Also for the mid-grade audience segment, a band of artists from drama, action, dance, provocation burst in force... There are eight of them and they live in an orphanage where their director has them almost on bread and water, while She lives in the greatest of opulence. This is the beginning of The Nine Dancers (La Galera), by the Mallorcan author Andreu Llinàs, who introduces us to those who will probably be his literary companions in the coming years, or so we hope. The narrator's voice gradually introduces us to the eventful life of these girls, whose lack of affection from adults they make up for by loving each other very much, although sometimes they show it in a rather crude way.
The empathy with the little ones is immediate, as is the instant hatred against the director and her punishments. But one day everything changes. The retirement of the orphanage's guardian and the entry of a new one will change the entire panorama, although the creatures are suspicious of the drastic change of scenery. A new tutor with hidden artistic gifts that she will transmit to her pupils, thus giving way in the little girls' lives to the magical world of dance. All this while a dark subplot is being woven in the building next to the orphanage where a gang of thieves has their eye on the girls (10-11 years old). The exciting beginning of a series that Llinàs, also a renowned illustrator, sprinkles with friendly and vibrant vignettes that give the narrative a complete perspective. Humor, action, the right number of bad guys and a pinch of goodness are the basic ingredients of this series that will launch its second installment at the beginning of 2024.
The French tandem Mathieu-Daudé and Tallec also create a fun series for early readers starring a moody, argumentative, non-conformist, curious Viking girl who is very willing to get her way. Dagfrid (Flamboyany) just needs to utter a few curse words to be completely believable. Because what self-respecting Viking wouldn't swear by Asynjur, for example, when for the umpteenth time in her life they give her dried fish at mealtime? So Dagfrid, her bad mood and a boat that her brother helps her build, set off on an adventure (well, the truth is that they are running away from dried fish) and they come across an island where they mistake her for a boy, because why not? She wears her braids twisted like an ensaimada. And what could have been the beginning of a conflict turns into something very different. An ideal series for early readers with short, interesting installments full of good humor.
With humor and many foolproof plans comes The Worst Class in the World, by the English writer Joanna Nadin (Destino). Each episode of this crazy series starts in the same way: all the students accusing each other of something for which the teacher is about to abandon teaching. The truth is that the class gets it, because they are capable of making a Christ with something as simple as some cookies. Not to mention when they are asked to give an oral presentation, which ends up leading to a battle of pets. The series, which has already had a few installments (The worst class in the world makes a mess, The worst class in the world challenges you, The worst class in the world in danger), plays with the illustrations of Rikin Parekh, a 'ninja', like him He introduces himself, who has also worked in primary schools and has touched firsthand the raw material with which this book is made. By the way, readers who get hooked on this reading, be patient with the names of the characters, because they have something to do with it. Also in Catalan.
The Madrid-based María Tena Tena signs a series of dark tones and a good dose of intrigue. It is Malditas curses (Loqueleo), and its beginning takes place on stages in Madrid and Toledo. The protagonists are Loren and his little sister Catalina, who calls herself Rat, and instead of solving mysteries, they solve curses. And not because they want to, of course. They do it forced. His parents have been victims of a strange curse that keeps them in a deep coma from which no doctor has been able to wake them up. A drawing of an animal with the head of a rooster and the tail of a snake is their main clue (illustrated by Bartolomé Seguí), which takes them to a haunted house in Toledo where a ghost and three enormous tigers live. A series (10-11 years old) that explores with good pen some traditional legends such as that of the devil Cojuelo.
