Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Tiny Forest Adventure (Nell of Gumbling, #2)

MY EXTREMELY TINY FOREST ADVENTURE is an exciting new installment in the fantasy series NELL OF GUMBLING. Nell is going on a wilderness adventure with her classmates, camping for a week. However, things go awry when they are all shrunk down to Thumbkin size after Gil wishes they would know what it felt like to be tiny. They will need to work together to find their way back.

What I loved: This is an interesting format, with much of it in journal form and key scenes shown in graphic novel format. This is great for kids who appreciate the visual nature and speed of graphic novels, but also want to enjoy chapter books - a great blend between the two. The graphic novel pages were illustrated fantastically well and capture the characters, their personalities, and predicaments well. Key dialogue is easily attributable, making it easy to understand and effortless to follow along. The journal entries add to the feeling and experience of it all, while also providing some more overarching narration to the story.

In terms of the story itself, this touches upon a lot of issues that will resonate with preteens and young YA readers. At the beginning of the book, the characters are absorbed in their crushes on other students and their own experiences, without exploring much outside their own bubble of self. The story brings up the need for empathy and teamwork that presents some potent themes. They learn a lot about respecting each other and their feelings, as well as find a bit of romance (hand-holding!) and strong friendship along the way. The romantic relationships that form were cute and age appropriate. The characters are likewise compelling and easy to relate to.

The story is infused with plenty of humor and magical situations and creatures that really add to the fun. This is a clever story with themes that readers can appreciate. The story will work well for older middle grade and young YA readers, due to themes, format, and characters.

Final verdict: Overall, MY EXTREMELY TINY FOREST ADVENTURE is an entertaining and engaging middle grade graphic novel that combines humor, compelling characters, and thoughtful themes into a great read for older MG and young YA audiences.