Cici's Journal
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?
In a graphic novel interwoven with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles, Cici assembles clues about the odd and wonderful people she’s uncovered, even as she struggles to understand the mundane: her family and friends.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
French illustrator Neyret's delicate, finely worked portraits bring elegance to this pair of graphic stories. Ten-year-old Cici is determined to become a writer and introduces her cast of characters in journal entries: her single mother, her novelist neighbor Mrs. Flores ("After meeting her that day, I knew that I wanted to write books too"), and her friends Lena and Erica. Subsequent action toggles between panel artwork, Cici's journal notes, and other correspondence. Cici successfully solves two mysteries one in the forest that contains an abandoned zoo, the second in the local library but her professional ambitions sometimes trip her up. More than once, she expects Lena and Erica to lie to her mother when she's out investigating, and Mrs. Flores complains that Cici only consults her when she needs information. Tension between the friends heats up during the second mystery, and Cici repents. The stories are smart and Burrell's translation is skillful, but they're hobbled somewhat by the wooden first-person narration ("For the first time I shared a big secret with my mom. Could she feel my hand shaking?") and dialogue. Ages 8 12.
