Review: Mallory in Full Color by Elisa Stone Leahy

Mallory in Full Color
Elisa Stone Leahy
Quill Tree Books
Published November 19, 2024

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About Mallory in Full Color

A funny, poignant middle grade novel about a tween who navigates questions of identity and friendship when her anonymous web comic goes viral, from the acclaimed author of Tethered to Other Stars.

Mallory Marsh is an expert at molding into whatever other people want her to be. Her true thoughts and feelings only come out in her sci-fi web comic, which she publishes anonymously as Dr. BotGirl.

But juggling all the versions of herself gets tricky, especially when Mal’s mom signs her up for swim team. Instead of being honest about hating competitive swim, Mal skips out on practice and secretly joins the library’s comic club. There Mal meets Noa, a cute enby kid who is very sure of who they are. As Mal helps Noa plan a drag queen story time, she tries to be the person she thinks Noa wants her to be—by lying about her stage fright.

Then Mal’s web comic goes viral, and kids at school start recognizing the unflattering characters based on Mal’s real-life friends. With negative pushback threatening the drag queen story time and Dr.BotGirl’s identity getting harder to hide, Mallory must reckon with the lies she has told.

If she reveals her full self, will her friends, her parents, and her new crush accept the real Mallory Marsh?

My Review

I want to highlight so many things about this book. Mallory has this really sweet moment with her grandmother that I loved. Her grandma surprises her by having a nonbinary friend, so when Mal tries tell her about Noa, whom Mal has a crush on, she doesn’t have to stop and explain about Noa’s pronouns.

I also loved how even though Mal’s friends are upset at discovering they appear as characters in Mal’s webcomic, what Mal points out to them is that those characters have incredible strengths. Instead of the narrative twisting to be about Mal secretly making fun of her friends, it shows that the webcomic helps her process how she feels about those relationships and remind herself about the great qualities her friends have. Not just the annoying moments.

I also love that Leahy includes a drag queen story time. At first, Mal isn’t sure about this as a kid-friendly activity. But when she talks to a friend about it and then meets the drag queen, she feels differently. It’s a big celebration of books and dress-up and affirming who you are. It’s really sweet.

There’s also a little romance between Mal and Noa, whom she meets at the comic club. It’s sweet and mostly consists of blushing and butterflies-in-the-tummy with one kiss. As Mal examines her feelings for Noa, she feels pressure to label herself. Ultimately, though, she decides she isn’t sure what label fits, only that she has romantic feelings for them. I liked that she makes clear that it’s okay not to know all of who you are in middle school. It’s okay not to label yourself. Kids definitely need that message, because the pressure is real.

Another wonderful surprise about Mallory in Full Color is that it’s a companion novel to Tethered to Other Stars, the author’s debut. I loved seeing more of Wendy in this book and seeing the friend group from another angle.

There’s so much to love about this story. Each chapter opens with a page showing part of Mal’s webcomic. The robots and sci-fi elements add a lot of appeal. Readers who enjoy manga and graphic novels will enjoy reading about the creation process and the comic club discussions.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief instances of homophobia and transphobia. Mallory is hurt when her family members say something homophobic and her dad doesn’t push back.

Drug Content
None.

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