Rainbow! Vol. 1

Gr 7 Up–Seventeen-year-old Boo’s active imagination springs to life on the pages of this sweet graphic novel that mixes romance with the realities of addiction. Boo, balancing school, a part-time job, and a complicated home life, escapes her circumstances through her daydreams. Her bicycle transforms into a horse and carriage, her gossiping classmates become comedic monsters, and her work uniform is refashioned into a ball gown. But even her imagination cannot free her from her mother’s alcoholism, which forces Boo to assume the role of caretaker and leaves her with flashbacks of traumatic memories. When a new girl, Mimi, arrives at school and takes an interest in Boo, Boo has to decide if she can trust Mimi enough to connect with her in the real world instead of escaping to the fantasy inside her mind. This full-color graphic novel uses pink and teal tones to create a dream world for Boo that is cute and whimsical, while still capturing the darkness of her home life. Boo is drawn with light skin and pink hair; other characters are portrayed with various skin tones and body types.