How to Talk to Your Succulent

During Thanksgiving break, 11-year-old Adara and her father move from California to Michigan to live with her grandmother. Adara misses her late mother, who could communicate with plants, and tries talking to her mother’s plants herself, but it doesn’t feel the same. Despite her grief and loneliness, she soon befriends classmate Winnie, an artist, whom she meets after following a mysterious creature into nearby woods. When her dad takes her to get a plant, Adara chooses a pink succulent, which she names Perle, and her own latent ability to converse with plants awakens. Perle provides her with new avenues through which Adara develops friendships and processes her feelings. But her experience taking care of her mother’s houseplants doesn’t translate as well to caring for Perle. As Adara advocates for her needs, she also learns how to show up for the people—and plants—she loves. Persico (Georgia’s Terrific, Colorific Experiment) pairs bold colors, lively botanicals, and visual allegories for grief and disillusionment with swift dialogue and Adara’s introspective first-person narration, resulting in a gentle graphic novel about loss and connection. Characters are depicted with varying skin tones. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)