All her life, Safia Haziz has dreamed of adventure.Reared on awe-inspiring tales by her bookseller parents, she's lost and lonely when they die. She's taken in by a distant aunt-born Walteranne Hakim, later she became Lady Whimsy, the World's Greatest Adventurer. Having given up her globe-trotting lifestyle after being turned into a blue-furred, three-eyed, wolflike monster by a strange curse, Aunt Whimsy has hidden away from the world with her tough-as-nails housekeeper, Miss Cathryn, for company. When her aunt's archnemesis, Professor Doctor Cecilia Choi, nicknamed Pineapple Tart, resurfaces in the news after a yearslong expedition, will Safia help Aunt Whimsy reclaim her former glory? The answer in this lighthearted romp is a foregone conclusion, as Safia and her aunt travel on a luxury ocean liner, negotiate a magical jungle, and befriend a surly secret agent. These, among other excursions, are depicted in an energetic style reminiscent of a '90s cartoon. Full-page spreads of the sensations, sounds, smells, and tastes Safia experiences on her journeys are particular highlights. Yee's character design is delightful, full of diversity in body type, skin tone, and gender expression. The story is kindhearted and full of fun. Eleven-year-old Safia is blind; her disability is never treated as an obstacle, instead incorporated into her zest for life in realistic ways, such as through the technology and devices she uses. Safia is brown-skinned and has relatives in India and Egypt.Adorable and diverting. (gallery, concept art) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)

Gr 4 Up —A gleeful adventure, exceedingly colorful and humming with life, as much about the idea of exploring as about the journey itself. Yee's central hero is the young, blind, and bookish Safia, sent to live with her distant aunt after a fire at her parents' bookstore leaves her orphaned. Aunt Whimsy, unbeknownst to sightless Safia, is a world-famous explorer who has gone into hiding due to a condition that's left her with the appearance of a three-eyed, curly-horned, gray-furred goat-woman. After Safia settles in with a whimsical cast of characters at her aunt's expansive estate, a rival's taunt beckons Whimsy out of retirement, and the crew sets out on their next adventure—Safia's first. Along the way Safia forms a new friendship, suffers betrayals, and finds her own knack for adventure and bravery. While the relationship dynamics woven throughout the story are meaningful, Yee's real zest and passion is for the imaginative creatures and fanciful locales. Swirling emotions become lightning strikes of neon, flashbacks are displayed as magazine clippings and newspaper articles, and hand-drawn maps, doodled notes, and other paper ephemera abound. The cast is primarily women and nonbinary characters, and Safia and Aunt Whimsy are people of color with Arabic names. The apex of their adventures occurs in a location that seems to be influenced by Hindu and Tibetan legend. VERDICT A heartfelt, high-energy, richly inked caper with plenty of pauses for legend-building, and a multi-faceted, fun read.—Emilia Packard