Believe Your Eyes: Book 1

by Cori Doerrfeld, Cori Doerrfeld (Illustrator), Tyler Page (Illustrator)

Overview

A lot is changing for Cici. Her parents are separating, her wacky abuela is moving in, and on her tenth birthday, she wakes up with fairy wings! Cici's new magical powers let her see people as they truly are. But what she learns about her friends and family isn't always easy to accept. She has only one day to decide whether to keep her wings. When Cici wishes life could just be normal again, will she choose to believe in the power of fairies?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512406702
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2016
Series:	Cici: A Fairy's Tale , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Cori Doerrfeld is a freelance author and illustrator. She lives in Minneapolis with her comic artist husband, Tyler Page, and their two children, and she is the author of 2019 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book and New York Times Notable Children's Book The Rabbit Listened. Follow Cori's work online at www.coridoerrfeld.com.
Tyler Page is an Eisner-nominated and Xeric Grant-winning artist and educator. He illustrated the Graphic Universe series The Chicagoland Detective Agency. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, author/illustrator Cori Doerrfeld, and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2016
The husband-and-wife team of Doerrfeld (Matilda in the Middle) and Page (the Chicagoland Detective Agency series) launch the Cici: A Fairy’s Tale series about a Latina girl who discovers she is a fairy. With Cici’s 10th birthday approaching, she unexpectedly sprouts pink wings one morning. Her abuelita then reveals her own wings and tells Cici that the two of them are hadas, or fairies. Cici’s powers include “fairy sight”: her mother seems to use octopus arms to juggle multiple tasks one busy morning, while Cici’s younger sister retreats into a turtle shell, upset by their parents’ impending divorce. This is essentially a setup tale—a plot line in which Cici and her friend attend a hot tub party competing with Cici’s birthday plays into a follow-the-crowd vs. be-yourself dynamic that helps Cici decide whether to embrace her newfound magical heritage. While the plot is fairly thin, Doerrfeld and Page’s vivid cartoons are full of humorous details, while reflecting the deeply felt emotions of a family in transition. Ages 7–11. Author’s agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"[F]or younger readers, this confectionery graphic novel will give them both whimsy and the chance to consider about how they might be seen as their true selves."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

05/01/2016
Gr 3–5—Ten-year-old Cici has been through a lot. Her parents announce that they are getting divorced, she feels pressured by her friend to grow up, and she suddenly realizes she has magical powers. And now Cici has only one day to decide whether to keep her newfound powers or discard them. The story moves exceptionally fast, rapidly switching between scenes, which makes it difficult for readers to connect with the characters or learn about their motivations. Refreshingly, Cici's problems don't magically go away by the end, and while she loses some friends, she winds up with stronger ties to her family. The illustrations are colorful and wonderfully explore the magical world. VERDICT A decent graphic novel addition.—Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2016-02-02
Alongside changing friendships and her parents' imminent separation, Cici learns that she is also a hada, or fairy. Cici's 10th birthday isn't going quite how she imagined it. She won't be celebrating with her family and her best friend, Mia, like always: her dad's moved out, popular Hazel is throwing a hot-tub party on the same day, and she's unexpectedly sprouted a pair of shimmering pink wings. Cici's visiting abuela tells her that she is, like many of the women in her family, a hada. She has newfound powers besides the wings: she also has the "fairy sight," which lets her see people and situations around her as they truly are (like seeing mean-girl Hazel and her followers as a flock of chickens). Cici learns she has only one day to decide whether she wants to remain a hada or to surrender her powers forever—but with all the confusion about her parents and friends swirling about her, what should she choose? This first volume in a series offers surprisingly more depth than the pastel-pink fairy images might indicate. Conjured with a pleasing, candy-colored palette and surrounded by evocatively expressive secondary characters, Latina Cici is wholly likable, and her real-life concerns play out well juxtaposed with her more whimsical ones. A thoughtful and entertaining mix of fantasy and real-world problems. (Graphic fantasy. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews