Ava Lin, Best Friend! (Ava Lin #1)

In this gently uplifting chapter book series opener, Fang (Layla and the Bots) highlights the joys and trials of connection and new experiences. Ava Lin, who reads as East Asian, is excited to start first grade, where the imaginative, fun-loving six-and-a-half-year-old endeavors to find a best friend. While attending a dinner, Ava asks her older cousin Nikki for advice on finding one and is disheartened to learn that Nikki doesn’t know how to make a friend—“you just do.” When a family acquaintance adds soy sauce to Ava’s bubble tea as a prank, Nikki comforts her by offering Ava a replacement beverage, which sparks an idea for how Ava can net herself a BFF. But school gets off to a rough start when, following Ava’s offer of a trinket to a classmate she hoped would become her new bestie, a misunderstanding between the two results in Ava crying “for probably one hundred hours.” Things soon look up for Ava, however; over the next few days, Ava encounters fun firsts, explores her creativity, and finally gains a companion, events rendered by Fang in an upbeat combination of bubbly prose and simple b&w comics. Ages 5–8. (June)