Review: Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks!

Sanity & Tallulah
Author: Molly Brooks
Genre: YA Age Appropriate: 8-12 Grade Appropriate: 3-7
On Sale In Store: 10/23/2018
Hardcover, 240 pages
Expected publication: October 23rd 2018 
by Disney-Hyperion

Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends on Wilnick, the dilapidated space station they call home at the end of the galaxy. So naturally, when gifted scientist Sanity uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she has to show Tallulah. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds is a bit of a handful, and it isn't long before the kitten escapes to wreak havoc on the space station. The girls will have to turn Wilnick upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it's too late?

Readers will be over the moon for this rollicking space adventure by debut author Molly Brooks. Sanity and Tallulah is an action-packed graphic novel about how two friends, Sanity and Tallulah, end up putting their home at risk. Sanity Jones is a young girl with lots of intelligence and passion. Her understanding of science is extraordinary. Tallulah Vega is a bit of a free spirit and is very fearless. She is a great friend to have by your side. Both live in space on a space station called Wilinick. Tallulah’s parents are great workers that help Wilinick run. Sanity’s father is the station’s director. In this story Sanity over steps her boundaries when it comes to what she can experiment with and ends up making a living breathing...cat. The cat has three heads. Its name is Princess Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds. After Sanity loses track of Princess Sparkle, Destroyer of the Worlds, it’s up to the two girls to find her without getting caught. When it seems like the daring duo are getting close to finding the cat a new threat has sneaked its way onto the station and is threatening the survival of Wilinick station’s residents.

I thought that this suspenseful adventure was wonderful. The suspense itself kept me turning one page after another until I realized I was already finished. I thought the book showed the theme, that friends will always have your back and will help you when you need them, perfectly. The graphic novel was filled with tons of funny one-liners and silly answers to mysteries. Speaking of the mysteries, I liked how there was just one major plot line to follow. In other books that I have read there were so many unknown answers in books that it felt like the books were just one big question mark. I could also follow the story really easy.

Overall, the book was great to read. One thing though kind of slowed down the story for me. I didn’t like how the amount of text bubbles kept fluctuating from page to page. At first a couple of pages would just have clear back and forth communication. Then, when I would move on in the story I would see lots of various bubbles. If the conversation was a bit more even from page to page I think it would flow better, but that’s just my opinion.

This book about friendship, mystery, and extraordinary science, was heartwarming and hilarious at the same time. I loved the suspense, jokes, and easy plots to follow all at the same time. Sanity & Tallulah is going to put tons of concentrated and smiling faces on the kids that read it. Good job Molly Brooks. The other thing to change is the text bubble problem and then it will be ready to send to shelves.

Lucais is a 6th grader from South Jersey. He is one of 4 children. His interests include math and science, and reading. His favorite genres are non-fiction, dystopian novels, and graphic novels and the occasional textbook. In his free time he enjoys filming videos for his YouTube channel, reading his favorite genre of books, and working on his first dystopian novel; hoping to complete within the next 6 months. He's looking forward to having a more relaxing environment to work on his hobbies in the very near future. This is Lucais's first review for Good Choice Reading and looking forward to doing more. Happy Reading!