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Little Monarchs
Little Monarchs | Jonathan Case
4 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
This graphic novel adventure tells the story of 10-year-old Elvie and her crucial mission to save humanity from extinction after a sun shift has changed life on earth as we know it. Its been fifty years since a sun shift wiped out nearly all mammal life across the earth. Towns and cities are abandoned relics, autonomous machines maintain roadways, and the world is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Isolated pockets of survivors keep to themselves in underground sites, hiding from the lethal sunlight by day and coming above ground at night. 10-year-old Elvie and her caretaker, Flora, a biologist, are the only two humans who can survive during daylight because Flora made an incredible discovery a way to make an antidote to sun sickness using the scales from monarch butterfly wings. Unfortunately, it can only be made in small quantities and has a short shelf life. Free to travel during the day, Elvie and Flora follow monarchs as they migrate across the former Western United States, constantly making new medicine for themselves while trying to find a way to make a vaccine they can share with everyone. Will they discover a way to go from a treatment to a cure and preserve what remains of humanity, or will their efforts be thwarted by disaster and the very people they are trying to save? Little Monarchs is a new kind of graphic novel adventureone that invites readers to take an intimate look at the natural world and the secrets hidden within. Elvie and Floras adventures take place in real locations marked panel-by-panel with coordinates and a compass heading. Curious readers can follow their travel routes and see the same landscapeswhether it be a secluded butterfly grove on the California coast or a hot-springs in the high desert. Through both comic narrative and journal entries, readers learn the basics of star navigation, how to tie useful knots, and other survival skills applicable in the natural world. Creator Jonathan Case acquired the fact-based portion of Little Monarchs through intensive research and several expeditions to study monarchs across the western United States. Scientific support also came from the Xerces Society, the world leaders in monarch preservation. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection An NPR Book We Love
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Lindy
Little Monarchs | Jonathan Case
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10-yr-old Elvie & her guardian are on a road trip down the west coast of USA in 2101 after a sun shift has killed most mammals on earth including humans. Flora‘s a scientist who‘s working on a sun-sickness vaccine made from monarch butterflies. Their adventures are scary at times, especially when it‘s unclear whether they can trust others. Science facts, gorgeous watercolour art & a hopeful ending round out this all-ages graphic novel. #kidlit

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Lindy
Little Monarchs | Jonathan Case
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Elvie‘s journal allows the author to intersperse facts in between the action portions of this graphic novel. And to develop Elvie‘s voice, like how she delights in saying “Walla Walla Washington.” (I feel the same way about saying “Kakabeka Falls,” ever since I drove by the highway sign when I was on a road trip between Toronto and Edmonton.)

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Lindy
Little Monarchs | Jonathan Case
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I just love the way the relationship between these two post-apocalyptic survivors is portrayed: they get angry with each other, they apologize, and they show how much they care for each other.

26 likes2 stack adds
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Bookgoil
Little Monarchs | Jonathan Case
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Been downed with Covid but feeling better today so I‘m out on the porch reading some graphic novels. Hoping I test negative tomorrow so I can head back to work and not miss too much of the beginning of the school year - such a different attitude I have this year as I‘m loving my new school and staff and can‘t wait to meet my students!

Bookwormjillk Fingers crossed 🤞 2y
AmyG Feel better and have a wonderful school year! 2y
Bookzombie Hope you continue to feel better and test negative! 2y
SleepyDragon I have that same water bottle. 🙂 2y
kspenmoll So sorry! I hope you get well soon- glad you have some good reading to help you through. Best of luck with school! 2y
28 likes5 comments