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Margaret Kingsbury grew up in a house so crammed with books she couldn’t open a closet door without a book stack tumbling, and she’s brought that same decorative energy to her adult life. Margaret has an MA in English with a concentration in writing and has worked as a bookseller and adjunct English professor. She’s currently a freelance writer and editor, and in addition to Book Riot, her pieces have appeared in School Library Journal, BuzzFeed News, The Lily, Parents, StarTrek.com, and more. She particularly loves children’s books, fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novels, and any books with disabled characters. You can read more about her bookish and parenting shenanigans in Book Riot’s twice-weekly The Kids Are All Right newsletter. You can also follow her kidlit bookstagram account @BabyLibrarians, or on Twitter @AReaderlyMom.
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I hope everyone is staying cool and that any Houston followers are recovering from Hurricane Beryl.
Today, I review four middle grade graphic novels for Dungeons & Dragons players, plus two great new releases.
New Releases
Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa by Leslie Stall Widener, illustrated by Johnson Yazzie
This is a lovely nonfiction picture book about a bit of history I’d never heard of before that connects Ireland, the Choctaw Nation, the Navajo Nation, and the Hopi Tribe. It covers multiple timelines. When the Potato Famine leads to mass starvation in Ireland, the Choctaw people raise money to send to Ireland, despite their own economic hardships. In 2017, Ireland builds a statue to commemorate the Choctaw people, then in 2020, when COVID-19 devastates the Navajo Nation and Hopi tribe, Ireland raises money to help. It’s an amazing story of reciprocity and taking care of the global community.
The Ballad of Cactus Joe by Lily Murray, illustrated by Clive McFarland
My kid laughed a lot when we read this new picture book together. Cactus Joe prefers his lonely life in the desert, singing every evening about how he prefers being by himself. But then one day, a bird makes its home on Cactus Joe, and more and more birds follow. Grumpy Cactus Joe prickles at all these unwelcome inhabitants, but when they fly away, he finds he misses them. Back matter includes more information about the birds that make their home in desert cacti.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I spent many summer vacations playing Dungeons & Dragons with my family. That’s actually how my parents met! The tabletop game is more popular than ever, so I thought I’d round up some middle grade graphic novels about D&D and tabletop fantasy gaming.
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Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz
This is such a fun graphic novel about kids bonding over a Dungeons and Dragons school club called Table Titans. I wish there’d been a club like this when I was in school! Val is a new student, and she’s a bit intense. She fought a lot at her previous school, and her mom (who is great) is worried it will happen again. Val’s first day of school goes pretty badly until a kind kid at the end of the day invites her to the school’s D&D club. She loves it, though the school sponsor is taking a semester off and they’ll need to find another teacher to sponsor the club. The only teacher available is the wrestling coach. Will they be able to convince him? The characters are so well drawn and realistic.
DnDoggos: Get the Party Started by Scout Underhill, color by Liana Sposto
This is a really cute first book in a new graphic novel series. It’s about four adorable doggos with very different personalities playing their favorite tabletop fantasy game. Tonka is the anxious bard, Pickles the reckless and money-hungry fighter, Zoey the sweet cleric, and Magnus the wise game master. Underhill immerses the dogs in the fantasy world as they play together.
Just Roll with It by Lee Durfey-Lavoie, illustrated by Veronica Agarwal
Sixth grader Maggie has OCD and manages her obsessive thoughts by rolling her d20 die. She’s nervous about starting middle school, but she finds a supportive group of friends at the school’s RPG club. Her family is also supportive and loving, but one of her sisters might be moving away, which increases her anxiety. This is a sweet and very relatable graphic novel.
Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag, illustrated by Xanthe Bouma
Molly Knox Ostertag needs no introduction for graphic novel readers. In this first book in a series, 8th graders Olivia and Jess have been working on a fantasy story to include in their D&D game. Jess wants to add more people and start a D&D club, but Olivia wants it to continue to be just the two of them. Can the two find a compromise? The second book in the series, Dungeon Club: Time to Party, released Tuesday!
Bookish Good
Book Dragon Sticker by SDGStickers
Every D&D player needs a book dragon sticker, right? $4+
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