Only Only Marisol Rainey
by Erin Entrada Kelly; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate    Greenwillow    160 pp.
5/23    9780062970480    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780062970503    $10.99

In her third adventure, Marisol (Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, rev. 5/21, and sequel) helps her friend Felix learn to ride a bicycle, navigates her best friend Jada’s jealousy that Marisol is spending so much time with Felix, and worries about a neighbor’s scary-looking German shepherd, who has gone missing. (At bedtime, after learning that the dog has escaped, Marisol “wonders where he is. She wonders if he will be waiting for her in the morning with all his teeth.”) Marisol is an anxious second grader, and her concerns are emotionally spot-on. The limited omniscient narration means that readers know what the protagonist is feeling and thinking while still viewing the world from outside of her head. The book design is approachable for young readers, featuring wide margins, plenty of white space, and an abundance of line drawings. Give this to fans of Dominguez’s Stella Díaz Has Something to Say (rev. 5/18) or those ready to move on from Faruqi’s Meet Yasmin!

From the July/August 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.