“It was my tenth birthday.”

From Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter’s Allergic.

Maggie has spent her entire life waiting for the day when her parents agreed to let her get a dog, and now that she’s turning ten, the day has finally arrived.  When the family goes to the shelter, Maggie finds the perfect puppy, but while waiting for paperwork, her skin, nose, and everything else starts acting crazy and her parents realize that’s she’s allergic to dogs.  Heartbroken, Maggie learns from the doctor that she’s severely allergic to pretty much anything with fur and feathers, so she begins a search for a different type of pet with no success.  While her parents get ready for the birth of a new baby, Maggie and her younger brothers start at a new school where she connects with her new neighbor, Claire, and the two become fast friends.  The friendship is strained when Claire gets a puppy that Maggie cannot be around, but when the girls eventually reconcile and change up where they spend time together.  While Maggie tries to manage her new friendships at school and soon-growing family at home, she struggles to find her place in her world, but Maggie never gives up hope that somewhere she’ll find the perfect, not-allergy-inducing pet.

This story uses a variety of elements to create a quick-moving, but engaging adventure that is reminiscent of a Raina Telgemeier graphic novel.  Michelle Mee Nutter’s illustrations are crisp and fun, making both the human characters feel unique and the animals realistic in their personalities.  This graphic novel will appeal to a wide range of readers, and both animal lovers and those familiar with the struggles of allergies will find Allergic impossible to put down.