Out on a limb

A child experiences a range of emotions while recovering from a broken leg in Morris's evocative debut, accompanied by absorbing, digitally colored graphite illustrations by Mylie (Something for You). When Lulu, who's light-skinned and wears two dark pigtails, breaks the tibia and fibula of her right leg, good-humored scenes show her surveying a "sympathy trove" of cards and gifts, traveling to school in a wagon, and getting her cast signed by classmates. But the "special attention" soon wears off, and Lulu grows uncomfortable: "Her leg was sore--itchy and twitchy, trapped inside its yellow shell." When it's finally time for the cast to come off, Lulu's leg is free, but worry and knowledge that "bad things could happen" keep her from resuming her usual activities. Interspersed with these events are wordless narrative spreads that follow a vibrant yellow envelope addressed to Lulu making an extraordinary journey: from a mailbox, onto the sole of someone's shoe, into raccoon paws, and carried aloft by a bird. The dual arcs converge slowly, suggestive of the patience Lulu must have as she heals emotionally as well as physically, and the uplifting story concludes with a moment of serendipity that encourages Lulu to overcome her fears. Ages 4--8. Agent (for Morris and Mylie): Hannah Mann, Writers House. (Feb.)

When Lulu breaks her leg, it's not so bad at first: all her classmates want to sign her bright yellow cast, and she finds new ways to do ordinary things. Soon, however, the novelty wears off. So when it's time for the cast to go, Lulu should be ready -- but she's not: her leg feels fragile and unsafe. She takes to wearing one rain boot as a substitute and hangs back when her friends want to play. When Grandpa comes to visit, he reassures her that "some things just need a little extra time." The next day, Lulu sees something yellow up in a tree, and her curiosity makes her brave enough to climb it. Readers will know what the object is because throughout the book, on interspersed paneled wordless spreads, a subplot has unfolded of the unusual progress of a bright yellow envelope -- carried by the wind, pushed along by a freight train, and so on until it's finally picked up by a nesting bird. The convergence of the two plots is highly satisfying, and the book ends with images of a confident (and barefoot) Lulu balancing on the high-up tree limb with her own letter to Grandpa. Yellow dominates in Mylie's minimal palette, keeping viewers' focus on Lulu and on the peripatetic envelope; facial expressions and body language are used to great effect. A welcome story of a child overcoming her fears in her own time, and of a close and supportive intergenerational friendship. Martha V. Parravano January/February 2022 p.94(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.