“Yasmina!”

From Wauter Mannaert’s Chef Yasmina and the Potato Panic.

There are few things that young Yasmina loves more than to cook for her widowed father with fresh vegetables and delicious food combinations. Each day when he comes home, Yasmina’s father arrives home to a tasty dinner, and each morning, she makes sure to send him off to work with a healthy lunch. Though Yasmina’s quest for the best ingredients sometimes means she must steal ingredients from the rooftop garden of her upstairs neighbor, Amaryllis, Yasmina gets most of her fresh veggies from two local, bickering farmers, Marco and Cyril. However, when Marco and Cyril’s farms are destroyed to make room for potato fields for a new potato in a bag factory, Yasmina finds it harder and harder to find fresh ingredients or anything other than the seemingly-addictive potato snacks. Soon the potatoes are all that anyone eats and people begin acting more odd, but Yasmina’s refusal to eat the potatoes keeps her safe. When her father eats a potato, he quickly starts to exhibit the strange behavior that is taking over the city, so Yasmina must partner with Amaryllis, Marco, and Cyril to find out what’s really going on with the potato-centered panic.

An interesting story filled with an interesting illustration style, this graphic novel offers a fun food-focused adventure. Large portions of the story are word-free which helps keep the medium length story from being overwhelming to reluctant readers. Yasmina and the Potato Panic is unlike anything else, but it will leave readers with an unforgettable reading experience.