Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective (Hannah Sharpe #1)

An autistic 11-year-old who’s considered the class sleuth practices her investigative knack in this illustrated series starter from mother-son duo the Tashjians (the My Life series). The creator of a comic book series featuring Dusty Pickle—a pickle cowgirl in the Wild West—artist Hannah Sharpe also uses drawing to better understand idioms and decode social interactions. Though she’s not a fan of altered routines, Hannah soon navigates a teacher change and befriends the woman renting her family’s converted garage apartment. And when a string of catalytic converter and porch package thefts occurs in her family’s Northern California neighborhood, she employs her observational skills around the inquiry, noticing patterns that add up to a curveball that Hannah cannot handle alone. Though the concept of the young autistic detective is well-trodden, Hannah’s openhearted voice adds myriad details about her neurodivergent experience (drawn, per an author’s note, from Jake Tashjian’s own life), while comics interstitials—both Dusty Pickle episodes and interpersonal experiences—add humor to the straightforward narrative. Hannah and her family read as white; the broader cast is portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)