Little Monarchs

Ten-year-old, brown-skinned Elvie searches for her parents in this hopeful dystopian graphic novel set in 2101. Fifty years after a deadly “sun shift” endangered humankind and wiped out nearly all mammals, most people live underground to avoid lethal sun sickness. Because Elvie’s caretaker, white biologist Flora, developed an antidote to the ailment from the scales of monarch butterflies, available in small, perishable batches, the duo can travel in daylight. They traverse the West Coast in their mobile lab, classic road trip–style, following the butterflies’ migration and hoping to produce a vaccine while attempting to locate Elvie’s parents, who went to Mexico seeking “monarch medicine” eight years earlier. Pillaging marauders and crumbling infrastructure plague the coast, making for a gripping and action-packed tale. Bold ink lines paired with vibrant watercolors lend an ethereal feel to the sun-drenched landscape, providing a whimsical gentleness to Case’s eerie, futuristic world. Elvie records nature observations and maps out her travels in her journal, balancing educational exposition with the ominous atmosphere of this fresh and timely apocalyptic narrative. Ages 9–12. (Apr.)