Talia’s Codebook for Mathletes

In this winning interactive comics diary by Moss (the Amelia series), sixth grader Talia Zargari, portrayed with tan skin, records her daily observations and personal thought experiments to cope with the social pitfalls of middle school. Upset by teasing from his male classmates about them being boyfriend-girlfriend, Talia’s best friend Dash, who reads as Black, tells her they can’t be friends anymore. Devastated, STEM-focused Talia turns her sights to making it onto her school’s mathletes team. She’s delighted when both she and Dash make the lineup and hopes spending time together will help them reconcile. But as the only girl on the team, Talia faces gendered discrimination from their captain, prompting her to form her own all-girl mathletes squad. Moss successfully integrates an array of codes, doodles, and puzzles among Talia’s insightful and often humorous deductions about how “middle school isn’t about learning stuff from teachers.... It’s really about learning how to get along with other people.” Talia is an appealing heroine who thrives despite her challenges and missteps, and whose willingness to learn—coupled with her frustrations around growing up and changing dynamics—paints an organic portrait of one irrepressible tween’s middle school experience. Ages 8–12. (June)