Ruby Loves Adventure

Ilustrated by MiniKim and coloured by Pop. Nola's Worlds # 1 follows the life of Nola York-Stein. Her age isn't specifically said in the book, but looks like she is a tween or a teenager. She lives mostly alone, her parents are divorced, and her mom is a workaholic. One boring day at school [she was late again!], she met Damiano and his sister, and became intrigued at their life. She was convinced that these siblings are spies and gets to know both of them.

Review: The illustrations are very, very cute, although what I loved the most was the colours! They're so vibrant and eye-catching! As to the story, well, there's some open gaps that leave me thinking "huh?" and should have better explained how one character ended up in one place, and why they decided to go there in the first place rather than the reader trying to figure out everything, considering this book is marketed towards children. If they provided a bit more fluidity on the settings and the actions of the characters then it would have made this book so much better! So, yes, I guess the transitioning of the story would be a good thing to work on in the next few volumes.

However, on the story side, I do appreciate the fact that Nola is from a broken family, and explains a bit on how her mother isn't always at home [who is constantly engrossed in work], and her father is always away, and him giving her presents just to make up for the fact that he's never there. I haven't read much children's books wherein the main character is from a broken family [except maybe for the Princess Diaries, which I'm currently reading right now]. I guess it's a good tale for some kids who are from real-life broken families to know that they're not alone and no, the break-up is not their fault.

Illustrations - there are some scenes where I lost Nola, because she's in chibi mode or her appearance has completely changed but I guess it all depends on how the illustrator would interpret a certain scene in the tale! To each their own, I guess.

So, on to the summary.

Summary:


Published: November 1, 2010
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Available from: Everywhere!
Read it if: you want to read a new manga of sorts
Book was: provided by NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group
Rating: So-So [3/5]