Moonie and Junie: Interstellar Pen Pals by Katie Kordesh (HarperAlley, 176 pages, grades 2-5). Moonie lives by herself on the moon, with only her pet rocks to keep her company. She does pretty well living off the trash left behind by the astronauts who once explored the moon, but what she wants most is a friend. She puts a message in a bottle and sends it off into space. Junie is an alien girl visiting Mars on a family vacation who ends up receiving Moonie’s message. The two start writing back and forth, but Junie has a lot of social anxiety and resists Moonie’s invitations to visit her. Finally, Moonie hatches a plan to get Junie’s more adventurous parents to make a visit to the moon part of their vacation. When they arrive, Junie is miserable, but Moonie slowly introduces her to the wonders of the moon, and a real friendship soon blossoms. Junie’s parents invite Moonie to join them on the next leg of their journey, setting up the premise for book 2.

I had so many questions. Why is Moonie all alone on the moon? What does she eat? What about oxygen? But once I was able to put those aside, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these two quirky girls and watching their friendship grow. Perfect for graphic novel fans who are ready to move up from Narwhal and Jelly or Pizza and Taco to something a little more substantial.

Last One Picked by Audrey Meeker, colors by Sarah Davidson (Feiwel and Friends, 224 pages, grades 4-7). Annabeth is looking forward to a summer spent reading her favorite Warrior Princess books and volunteering at the library. Her mom has different ideas, though, and signs Annabeth up for volleyball camp. The best player in the camp is Annabeth’s ex best friend Serena who’s an excellent volleyball player but a horrible teammate, thanks in large part to her mom’s nonstop criticism and coaching. After a disastrous first day, Annabeth reluctantly returns and discovers that with help from coaches and other players, she’s actually getting better. She enjoys the next couple of days enough to make the decision to try out for the freshman team at the end of camp. Things turn out differently than either Annabeth or Serena expect, but both of them start to appreciate their unique talents, and by the end, they seem to be back on the path to a friendship. Includes an author’s note about how her own experiences led to the creation of this book.

Although it’s a pretty quick read, this graphic novel covers a wide range of topics including friendship, good sportsmanship, and body image, all of which are handled deftly. I do enjoy a good mean girl redemption arc, and by the end of the story I was rooting for Serena almost as much as Annabeth.