Inkling by Kenneth Oppel - ADVISABLE

Inkling by Kenneth Oppel, 256 pages. Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children’s Books), 2018. $17.99

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Ethan’s dad is a famous artist, which is pretty cool. Everyone expects Ethan to have the same talent, but he doesn’t, which isn’t cool at all. With the expectations of his friends to draw a graphic novel for their class project, Ethan is desperate to do something that looks good—but maybe he doesn’t have to do it alone.

While Ethan’s story has a message of honesty and respect, I was most touched by the idea that sometimes bad things happen when we’re trying to do our best. Ethan struggles to fulfill all the responsibility he feels, and his triumph is taught in an imaginative story for readers. Both the written story and the illustrations were fun to read through.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen