Ava Lin, Best Friend!
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Brand-new first grader Ava Lin is determined to find a best friend—even if she’s a bit unclear on how to go about it—in this launch of a funny, super relatable chapter-book series. Ava Lin is six and a half years old, and she loves bubble tea, finding treasures, and animals (note the 117 varieties of pets on her wish list). She’s very good at drawing and balancing pasta on her nose. And there’s a Very Exciting Thing happening in her life right now: tomorrow is her first day of first grade! Which means she gets a new backpack, new pencils, and a new lunch box. But what she really wants to get in first grade is a best friend, which isn’t as easy as she thought. Ava’s quest has her navigating some confusing social rules, with unintentionally comical results—but she always manages to wriggle out of her mishaps in ways young readers will find very familiar. With an engaging text, humorous graphic panels, and black-and-white illustrations, Vicky Fang draws on her Chinese American family’s experience to create a heroine kids will instantly love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this gently uplifting chapter book series opener, Fang (Layla and the Bots) highlights the joys and trials of connection and new experiences. Ava Lin, who reads as East Asian, is excited to start first grade, where the imaginative, fun-loving six-and-a-half-year-old endeavors to find a best friend. While attending a dinner, Ava asks her older cousin Nikki for advice on finding one and is disheartened to learn that Nikki doesn't know how to make a friend—"you just do." When a family acquaintance adds soy sauce to Ava's bubble tea as a prank, Nikki comforts her by offering Ava a replacement beverage, which sparks an idea for how Ava can net herself a BFF. But school gets off to a rough start when, following Ava's offer of a trinket to a classmate she hoped would become her new bestie, a misunderstanding between the two results in Ava crying "for probably one hundred hours." Things soon look up for Ava, however; over the next few days, Ava encounters fun firsts, explores her creativity, and finally gains a companion, events rendered by Fang in an upbeat combination of bubbly prose and simple b&w comics. Ages 5–8.
