Category: Diverse Reads

4 Graphic Novels I Enjoyed

Graphic novels are almost like normal books. They capture a lot of the same emotions and talk about problems in the same way. The only difference is that they are usually lighter and more fun to read. Here are some of my favorite graphic novels.

  1. Raina Telgemeier books

I absolutely love the graphic novels that Raina Telgemeier writes. She writes many different ranges of books. 2 of my favorite books by her are Smile and Sisters which talk about her experiences with mouth troubles and her relationship with her sister. I also enjoy her graphic novel take on the novels written by Ann M Martin. The Baby-Sitters Club series is so lively and it’s one of my favorites. I also love her stand alone books.

2. Go With The Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann

This book talks about periods and how one certain middle school never had pads and tampons stocked up. It is really exciting and I love how the authors tied in the theme of friendship in as well. Each character’s personality is so different and I loved the idea of protests. This is such a great book and you should totally read it!

3. 5 Worlds series by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel

This series is so captivating and exciting. Each graphic novel ends with an enthralling cliffhanger and makes you want to read the next book. It follows the story of Oona Lee and her friends who are trying to save the 5 worlds from extinction. There are so many plot twists and everyone has secrets. I love the fantasy element and it’s so fun to read! This is a great series and the last book is coming out soon!

4. Emmie and Friends series by Terri Libenson

This series is so upbeat and I love the problems and solutions. It’s really fun to read and each book can be read as a stand-alone or a series. It’s one of my favorite series, because of the realistic characters. It’s so fun to read and I always can count on Emmie, Brianna, and Jamie (even though I haven’t read her book yet- it’s on my TBR) to cheer me up. This is such a great series and I really think you should read it.

What are some of your favorite series?

Shark Encounter by The Mint Girl

I wrote this story for the Houston Public Library’s writing prompt, “If you met a shark in the wild, what would you do?” I hope you like it!

“Let’s go!” Ruchika, my cousin squeals. We have just arrived at the beach and I can’t wait to lounge in one of the chairs with a book, calmly watching the waves. “Uh uh!” my mom, Amruta says. “We need to unpack our bags and settle into our beach house first. Then you all can go play.” A collective sigh comes from us and we burst out laughing. I’m here with my cousins, Aadya, Ruchika, and Kavya. It’s been a long time since we’ve last been together, so when we met at the first hotel, we hugged each other and jumped with joy. Our journey has been long, but so so fun! “Come on now, let’s go to our cabins” my mom’s voice comes, jolting me out of my memory. I hurry after her, but before I go, I make sure to look behind my shoulder and make our sign. I look back just in time to catch my 3 cousins joining their ring finger to their thumb cleanly. We share an excited grin before we go. After changing into my favorite swimsuit, the one with a penguin on it, I hurry out of the cabin as soon as I can and run into Kavya, who’d just come over to check if I was ready. “I love your swimsuit!” Kavya gushes, “I love yours too!” I reply, just as excitedly. Kavya is wearing a light blue swimsuit, with a beautiful peacock on the front. I turn just in time to see Aadya and Ruchika exiting their cabins. Aadya wears a flamingo swimsuit and Ruchika wears a turtle one. We do a group hug. Tara Aunty, Ruchika’s mom, comes out just as we break apart. “It’s like you girls haven’t just seen each other!” she observes. We burst into giggles and skip joyfully to the beach. Once we pick the perfect spot, Sriya Aunty, Kavya’s mom, holds up her bag, filled to the top with unknown things. “I have a surprise for you girls!”  she says. We glance at each other excitedly. What could it be?  Sriya Aunty slowly pulls out a few objects. On first glance, we can’t make them out, but I lean closer and finally I recognize it! My eyes grow as wide as saucers. “Are we going snorkeling?” I blurt out. Sriya Aunty smiles and nods. “ Since you, Ikshita already know how to snorkel, I figured that Kavya, Aadya, and Ruchika can learn from you!” she says brightly. We grab our snorkeling gear and race to the ocean. My cousins catch on quickly and are wowed by the marvelous scenery underwater. When we come up to catch our breaths, I make a suggestion. “Do you want to go into slightly deeper waters?” I ask. Everyone is excited and we decide to do it. We keep our goggles facing down and marvel at the magical underwater background as we swim deeper and deeper in. Suddenly Ruchika nudges me and I look up, a bit annoyed. My annoyance drains away as I see what she saw. We are face to face with a sleeping lemon shark! I pop up out of the water. “Did you see that?” Kavya whispers. We nod, a bit excitedly and a bit nervously. “What do you think we should do?” asks Ruchika anxiously. They all look at me, since I love sharks and know as much as there is about them. “We should just back away slowly” I say. “That way we won’t provoke it”. Making a silent agreement, we dive back underwater and swim back to the beach. When I come out of the water, I see my cousins grinning ear to ear. “That was so cool!” Aadya exclaims, “I can’t believe that we came face to face with a shark!” I can’t help myself, I start grinning too. We rush up to our towel and start telling our moms about the shark encounter we had. “Well that certainly sounds like a lot of fun!” says Chaaya Aunty, Aadya’s mom, “How about you do some more research and maybe start a club at school?” We nod enthusiastically and go back to our cabin, happily talking all the way there.

I hope you enjoyed this. What would you do if you met a shark in the wild?

Mint Girl Reads Why is my Hair Curly? by Lakshmi Iyer

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Why is my Hair Curly? by Lakshmi Iyer. This book talks about a girl whose hair is curly and wild and how she learns to accept it. I enjoyed the plot and the small mystery along the way.

Avantika has a really bright personality that I love and I was carried along on her story. I can relate to her hair struggles, as I also have curly and unruly hair. This book is funny, while also having a message about being different. It was very open and I loved how Avantika’s problems get solved at the end. It was very sweet and had diverse voices, with a glimpse into an Indian lifestyle. Another great thing about this book was how the author talked about adoption. Avantika and her brother are both adopted and I like how that element was incorporated.

My favorite part of the book is when Patti (a mysterious stranger who she’s been meeting with) and her family meet. She then figures out who Patti really is and realizes that her and Patti’s hair are very similar. Patti also shows her various ways to comb her hair. I really enjoyed this book and think that you should read it.

Mint Girl Reads A Galaxy Of Sea Stars

A Galaxy of Sea Stars is a middle grade book written by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo. It tells the story of 11-year old Izzy who is having friendship troubles.

Her dad is back from the war in Afghanistan, but he’s changed. Her mom is working at their aunt’s bakery in Block Island for the summer. But just summer turns into a longer time and Izzy starts to feel annoyed. Then Sitara and her family joins and Izzy starts to feel more left out by her dad. Quickly, though, Sitara and Izzy become friends. At school, Izzy has way more problems, like how will she go on her school’s news? and why is Zelda acting so mean to Sitara.

Slowly, Izzy begins to understand the meaning of friendship and loyalty and being yourself.

Mint Girl Meets Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi

On 3/13/2020, I attended Blue Willow’s Meet Jason Reynolds session. It was about his new book Stamped. The book is about racism and how it spread. The format was easy to read and understandable. It made talking/reading about race much easier.

Jason Reynolds answered many inspiring questions asked by Ibram X Kendi, kids, and adults. The whole topic of this meeting was what inspires race and how can we stop it.

The book Stamped is a shortened version of Stamped From The Beginning which is written by Ibram X Kendi. The Jason Reynolds version is much easier to read and makes more sense to kids.

I haven’t finished reading it yet but I hope to over this extended spring break. Stay Healthy!

Mint Girl Reads Stories For South Asian Super Girls by Raj Kaur Khaira

I have recently read Stories For South Asian Super Girls by Raj Kaur Khaira. This is a book where you learn about many south Asian wonder women in today’s world. This is a nonfiction book about strong Asian women from Jhansi Ki Rani (amazing warrior queen) to Hannah Simone ( an actor). This book is chock-full of interesting facts and it has the best illustrations.I love this book.

This book tells you about all the amazing things women can do. They fight for their rights and can become role-models. This book earns a big thumbs-up from me.

International Women’s Day is a day where we celebrate all the strong women in the world and think about how women have come a long way from where we begun.It’s a day where we remember how far we have to go and think about achieving our goal.Happy Woman’s Day! 😁

Mint Girl Reads: Count me In By Varsha Bajaj

Count Me In is a middle grade fiction book written by Varsa Bajaj.

The protagonists in this book are 12 year old Karina and Chris who live in Houston, Texas. They’re neighbors but they don’t know each other well until Karina’s grandfather gets attacked and things start spiraling out of control. What follows is that Chris, Karina, and their friends find the true meaning of belonging in America today.

This realistic fiction book is very relevant in today’s world, as kids like me figure out where we belong in present day America. I found this book very moving and emotional. I live in a community that is welcoming and accepting and I am shocked at how people can act. I knew hate crimes existed,  but I never gave it much thought until I read this book. I was shocked at how Karina’s grandfather was treated and how cruel people can be.

If you enjoy diverse reads and middle grade fiction then you’ll definitely enjoy this book.

The Tweens Read 2019

On Saturday, October 19, I attended the Tweens Read book event.
It was held at Pasadena Memorial High School.It was hosted by Blue Willow Bookshop. It was my second year attending and I always look forward to these events.

I really enjoy these events because I can learn more about the authors.I can learn about their inspiration, the writing process, and what you can do if you get stuck. These things are really important as I feel they help me with my writing.

This year I attended the Art on the Page panel (Which featured Lincoln Pierce, Matthew Holm, and Remy Lai)The authors talked about their books, read some of their books, and answered questions. Next I attended the creative writing workshop. Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson were the authors for this event. They taught us how to brainstorm and how to crowd-source when you’re stuck.Then I went to the Shelf Stuff workshop from Harper Collins. They taught us how to advertise our books. Then they asked us for our advice and which apps would be the best to advertise on.We gladly came up with a few suggestions.Finally, we went to the Do the Write Stuff workshop. Varsha Bajaj, James Riley,Robbi Behr, and Matthew Swanson were the speakers for this panel. The setup was the same as the first panel but the things they talked about were completely different!

Interacting with these authors inspire me to work harder on my writing and to go above and beyond with it. I always want to be a great writer and by going to these sessions, I am motivated to become one. Going to the tweens read and also exposes me the tons of new middle grade fiction. My pile of books to read always increases with each visit to the Tweens Read.I would love if in the future I could interact with these authors: Kelly Barnhill (author of The Girl who Drank the Moon), Colin Meloy(author of The Whiz Mob and The Grenadine Kid), and Christina Uss( author of The Adventures Of a Girl Called Bicycle).




Mint Girl Reads : More To The Story by Hena Khan

When I first saw the cover of this book, I was captivated. The vibrant colors blended together in perfect harmony. The girls on the cover of the book captured my attention and I found myself wanting to know more about them. That is the reason I started to read More to the Story.

More to the Story is about how sisters, Jam, Bisma, Aleeza, and Maryanm, face a hard time where their dad is in a different country working and Bisma has just gotten diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer. This book is about the relationship between the sisters and Ali, their cousin while they discover themselves.

Jam’s story enraptured me. I loved her passion for journeling and her interesting ideas. I especially love her relationship with Travis and how he keeps shooting down her ideas. Bisma deserves a big round of applause. She managed to stay brave and calm during a hard time for her. Aleeza and Maryanam don’t appear much in the story, but their bond surprises me to no ends.In any fights, it usually ends up being Bisma and Jam vs. Aleeza and Maryanm.

I’ve read many of Hena Khan’s literature before and I’ve always enjoyed them. I especially like how she uses diversity in middle grade fiction. Amina’s Voice will always be one of my favorite books, as I love Amina, Emily, and Soojin’s story.

Mint Girl Reads More to the Story by Hena Khan. Picture created on Canva.com
Mint Rating

Mint Rating: 4/5 Mints