Review Detail

SASHIMI is a silly, comedic graphic novel about school, friendship, and fitting in. Sashimi is a fishboy that finds himself in a school when he runs away from a pirate. At school, Sashimi is a fish out of water (literally and figuratively). As he navigates bullies and difficulty fitting in, he soon finds his people and friends.

What I loved: This a clever graphic novel with relatable themes to middle grade readers. Feeling different, dealing with bullying, and making new friends are experiences that many children will find familiar. In this book, all of these situations are infused with humor as Sashimi is navigating these new experiences in his own way. He finds a way to stand up to bullies, understands the humor of other kids, and finds a group of friends who are also a bit different.

The story moves quickly and is perfectly suited to the graphic novel format. There is a focus on the images to tell the story with sparse call-outs and easily attributable speech bubbles, so it is easy to read and follow along. The images are well done with plenty of color and detail. Children will find a lot of humor in Sashimi's experiences, the jokes he tells, and the things he does (as well as the name of the poopdeck, which is explained). This is a great start to a new series!

There are also some interesting themes about food sources and humans around nature/fish-eating and school budgets. The school has been impacted by a lot of budget cuts that means the whole class shares one textbook, which makes learning challenging. When Sashimi donates a scale for money in the contest to catch the Beast, he turns the money around to get the school new textbooks.

Final verdict: SASHIMI is an engaging and humorous graphic novel about being different, friendship, and school challenges that middle grade readers are sure to enjoy! Can't wait to see more from this relatable and funny series!