A Taiwanese American girl learns to love her hair.Geraldine Pu loves her multigenerational family, her favorite things, and getting cozy in chilly weather. She particularly loves her cat hat (or mao maotz in Mandarin Chinese) with its cat ears and whiskers-it is this hat, interestingly enough, that narrates the story. When Geraldine accompanies her grandmother to the hair salon, she looks at glamorous photos in hairdressing magazines and concludes that her own black, straight hair is boring. The next day, she decides to use her cat hat to hide her hair, but her classmates-a racially diverse group that also includes a child in a wheelchair-call her out for breaking school rules. Picture day is coming up at school, so Geraldine secretly tries to achieve her grandmother's wavy hair texture…with disastrous results. Thankfully, her grandmother steps in to stage a hair intervention and deliver some much-needed wisdom. The illustrations in this latest addition to the Geraldine Pu series are colorful and accessible, and facial expressions are rendered with precision. The informative backmatter includes a guide to reading a graphic novel, a glossary, a note on the diversity of hair, and instructions on how to make a self-portrait collage.Another engaging outing for the likable protagonist of Chang's simple but thoughtful graphic early reader series. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)

Gr 13 Geraldine, a Taiwanese American girl, lives with her parents, her amah ("grandma" in Taiwanese), and her little brother, Auggie, who has recently taken to copying everything his older sister does. One of Geraldine's beloved possessions is her cute and cozy cat hat, called Mao Maotz (the glossary explains that in Mandarin "Mao" means "cat," and "Maotz" means "hat"). When Geraldine and Auggie accompany Amah to the hair salon, Geraldine flips through a magazine and concludes that her own hair is "boring!" Her friend Deven and the seemingly magical Mao Maotz offer encouragement, yet Geraldine is still not convinced and tries to restyle her hair, but things go wrong. When using Mao Maotz to hide her hair does not work, Geraldine will have to come up with a new plan for school picture day. This early chapter book, the latest in an ongoing series, is a fantastic introduction to comics, and Geraldine provides new readers with a brief tutorial on formatting and terminology. Chang creates a warm landscape, with a muted palette and rounded shapes. Text and visuals are well balanced, offering a clear and concise experience for emergent readers. VERDICT A refreshing early chapter book in a simple graphic novel format. Equal amounts silly and sweet, Geraldine is enchanting. Young readers will look forward to forthcoming titles in the series (and while they wait, direct them to Geraldine Pu and Her Lunchbox, Too! ).Claire Moore