Module 13: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Volume 1 BFF by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, and Natacha Bustos.

Citation:

Reeder, A., Montclare, B., & Bustos, N. (2016). Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Bff. (Vol.1).  New York: Marvel Worldwide.

Summary:

Lunella is a science lover and inventor trying to get into a better school. one where she fits in more and where she feels like she belongs; in her current school they call her names like "Moon Girl" and make fun of her love of science. While inventing Lunella creates a "magical doorway" to the past that other humanoids and Devil Dinosaur get through. The dinosaur picks up Lunella and takes her around. Lunella soon realizes the dinosaur isn't trying to harm her but rather play with her. The humanoids try to take her "Nightstone" to get back to where they came from, but the dinosaur saves both Lunella and the "Nightstone." By then, Devil Dinosaur has caused enough trouble and Lunella has begun inventing her own devices to help her save herself that The Hulk comes in to "save" the people from the dinosaur and Lunella, unsuccessfully, tries to stop him.

My thoughts:

This was a fairly typical marvel story with important twists. One, Lunella is a person of color. This is not a main part of the book, they don't talk about it. She is just a person of color. This representation of this kind is important especially in comic books and graphic novels that, until recently, tended to be mostly white male. The other fact is Lunella is a little girl who is interested in science. Most of the women in comic books are either nerdy or stereotypically spy-like and Lunella is somewhere in between. She is a character many could relate to with the added bonus of representation.

Professional reviews:

"Gr 3-8--A fun, all-ages comic series with an unlikely heroine and her larger-than-life sidekick. Luna Lafayette is an eight-year-old supergenius who is frustrated with the adults in her life, her dull and unchallenging school and classmates, and by the knowledge that she carries the "inhuman" gene, which will cause a mutation if she becomes exposed to the alien-origin Terrigen Cloud. In BFF (which collects issues one through six), she and Devil Dinosaur haphazardly team up to fight Neanderthals after the T. rex and the prehistoric men are teleported to the present day. In Cosmic Cooties (which collects issues seven through 12), Luna discovers that the Terrigen Cloud gave her the ability to switch bodies with Devil Dinosaur, a power that proves extremely problematic to her science project with a new boy at school and her archnemesis, Kid Kree. The prickly African American fourth grader makes for a unique and inspiring STEM-focused superheroine, and kids will cheer for and laugh at her partnership with the loving but disaster-prone Devil Dinosaur. The action-packed scenes, cameos by the Hulk and Ms. Marvel, and hilarious dialogue make up for the wooden adult characters and uneven pacing of the first few issues. The colorful, slick, and expressive art will have young readers flipping through the pages quickly. VERDICT A wonderful start to a much-needed, well-done, inclusive comic series that deserves a place in all libraries."

Xpress reviews. (2017). School Library Journal, 63(5) Retrieved from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2165/docview/1894675762?accountid=7113

In the library:
As a part of many displays for graphic novels, diversity and dinosaurs this book is one that can be included and loved by many patrons.