Tall Water

Tall Water / S.J. Sindu, Dion MBD (Illustrator)

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Tall Water
By: S.J. Sindu, Dion MBD (Illustrator)
Genre: Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 256
Published: August 12, 2025
Publisher: HarperAlley
Dates Read: September 2, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: civil war, violence, death

Ever since Nimmi turned sixteen, she’s yearned to meet her mother in Sri Lanka to ask her why she refuses to leave the island. Her father is going back there for the first time since the war as a reporter on assignment, but he refuses to take her, telling her Sri Lanka is too dangerous.

But when Nimmi has a dream about her mother asking to come find her, Nimmi knows she must go. Sneaking a purchase of an airplane ticket, her father is livid when he sees her at baggage claim in Sri Lanka – but by then it’s too late and he agrees to help Nimmi make contact with her mom. Nimmi tags along with her father and his guide, past checkpoints and armed soldiers, increasing the knowledge of war that rages there.

The day after Christmas, disaster strikes and a tsunami hits the island. Now, stranded amid the destruction, Nimmi must try and reunite with her family.

Besides this graphic novel having interesting characters and plot, this also offers a lot in the cultural and historical context of Sri Lanka. Because, okay, I knew about the 2004 tsunami and the devastation it caused throughout the Indian Ocean, but I don’t think I realized that Sri Lanka was going through a Civil War at the exact same time. It’s also just kind of crazy. It’s brought up that there are tourist areas and then there are the war areas and that people would still go on vacation there?! That’s wild to me.

Overall, this is a beautifully done graphic novel that brings up the themes of emotional, physical, and mental ramifications of both civil war and the tsunami as well as empathy, bearing witness, and coming of age.

*Thank you HarperAlley and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Stoked for This: August 2025

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Robots starting a noodle shop, a cat who runs around the cosmos in his homemade space craft, a library where books are filled with passed one’s memories that the government is now destroying for their own benefit, and a little ghost who, instead of a sheet, is a quilt and finds the joys of winter celebrations are just some of the awesome titles coming out this month!

Which of these covers catches your eye??

August 5, 2025

A novella about leftover robots opening their own noodle shop.
Maybe I’ve got a soft spot for robots after “In the Lives of Puppets” by TJ Klune, but robots and a noodle shop?! Yesss.

Automatic Noodle

By: Annalee Newitz

Birdie was a thirteen-year-old model under modeling agent Harriet Goldman – but after two years, she met a thirty-one-year-old rock star and her life changed. Now, thirty years later, Birdie is invited to celebrate Harriet’s fifty-year career, but Birdie has been avoiding her past for years. Now, she must face it if she wants to make her own future.

The Cover Girl: A Novel

By: Amy Rossi

August 12, 2025

Nimmi has wanted to see her mother in Sri Lanka, but her overprotective father has always refused. After her father gets an assignment in Sri Lanka and Nimmi sneaks onboard the plane, it’s a little too late to say no. But it’s Christmas 2004, and the tsunami hits Sri Lanka. Now, came Nimmi still reunite with her mother, even amidst the devastation?

Tall Water

By: SJ Sindu

Periwinkle is no ordinary pampered house pet. By day, he’s spoiled with scratches, cuddles, and delicious snacks. By night, he races through the cosmos in his custom-built space ship. This graphic novel has beautiful artwork from Tana Ford and is perfect for cat lovers out there.

The Space Cat

By: Nnedi Okorafor

August 26, 2025

Okay, this one has a library, the Time Space, that holds the memories of those who have passed, and it’s only accessed by these special watches. Lisavet basically grows up here and she finds out that government officials are coming into the library and destroying books so the past fits their personal narratives of what they wanted to happen. But when Lisavet meets American spy Ernest Duquesne and sets her on the course to change history and possible time space itself. In 1965, sixteen-year-old Amelia is mourning the disappearance of her Uncle Ernest when a CIA agents enlists her for help. When Amelia steps into the Time Space for the first time, she realizes time is not a linear as she once thought.

The Book of Lost Hours

By: Hayley Gelfuso

A little ghost quilt discovers the holiday of winter in this adorable Children’s book.

The Little Ghost Quilt’s Winter Surprise

By: Riel Nason

Illustrated by: Bryon Eggenschwiler

Set in a drive-in restaurant that exists in every Native community, this anthology celebrates Native joy with stories and poems of hope, healing, love, romance, friendship, and joy.

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories