I have been a fan of Zoe Persico's illustrations in picture books, and was thrilled to see she wrote a graphic novel. This is such an emotional, charming, and relatable story of loss, transitions, and relationships and growth that mimics much of what we see in plants. I loved the graphic medium for this story, as the thorny vines showed strife in Adara's relationships and as things got more challenging her thorny vines changed to red, then to a sort of demon that was haunting her.

Her memories with her mom slowly helped her grow and move on as she began to adapt to a new life in Michigan. I loved that Michigan during the winter was the backdrop to this story because in the winter, the Midwest can feel very bleak, but as spring comes with new life and plant growth, the warm weather makes everything feel possible.

I highly recommend this book for schools and libraries.

I liked the illustration of How To Talk to Your Succulent very much, and they contribute very well to the story. The visual of Adara growing thorny vines as she pushes her family and friends away is excellent. This is the best use of graphic novels, show readers in pictures what they may struggle to understand in text.

LHow to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico was an absolute delight of a graphic novel.

Adara and her father move in with her grandmother after the death of her mother. Both struggle to communicate with each other their feelings. Adara doesn’t have the tools to understand and communicate her grief and her father is avoiding talking all together.

This was beautifully written and illustrated, using plants as Adara’s deals with a new school, new climate and new friend. She finds a shelter in her mom’s plants, and discovers a special connection with them her mom also had.

I loved the focus of the messaging. It’s a story about grief, a topic we struggle to understand as adults and find it even harder to explain to kids. As Adara grows more frustrated and full of emotions she doesn’t know how to process, she starts to impact her relationship with here dad, her new friend and her plant babies. We see this illustrated as prickly vines that spread from her, to others around her. I loved how this helps express what she is going through.

The end result is a wonderful story that has a message of learning to speak up for ourselves, the importance of communicating our feelings, and using our voices to ask for help.
Its also about how to care for our plants, and as a plant lover, I appreciated how the author mixed in how to care for the succulent Adara had.

"How to Talk to Your Succulent" is a beautiful and moving middle grade graphic novel about loss, grief, relationships, and healing. Adara and her father move from California to Michigan after Adara's mother passes away. They move in with Adara's grandmother, and although her grandmother is very supportive, her father closes himself off from her. Adara makes a friend and discovers that she is able to talk to plants, an ability that appears to be inherited from her mother. As Adara struggles with her grief and her increasingly strained relationship with her father, her little succulent, Perle, struggles with not getting the care she needs. Just as Adara has a hard time talking to her dad, Perle has a hard time telling Adara that she needs different care than she is getting. The parallel journey of Adara and Perle adjusting to new homes, too much darkness, and learning to advocate for themselves and find the light again is a deeply emotional and gorgeously rendered tale that anyone who has experienced grief will connect with and find within its pages hope for brighter times ahead. This one belongs on all middle grade shelves.

Wow, that was a beautiful and evocative story. We follow the journey of Adara and her father as they move away from sunny California to nowheresville, Michigan, after Adara's mother passes. The juxtaposition of the relationships between Adara and her father, her friend, and her succulent are all vitally important and reflective of the said and unsaid feelings in grief and imperfect attempts to heal while living a messy life. There is a clumsy element to coping and continuing to walk in a world that once contained a loved one, and the mystical element of sentient and sapient plants created a visible bridge for their emotions. The art was beautiful, the story told with care and warmth, and I am left feeling poignant but happy to have gone on such a journey.

Thank you Zoe Persico, Penguin Random House Canada | Tundra Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Succulents and life advice? Say no more! Huge thanks to NetGalley and Tundra Books for the advanced copy - my plants will be hearing about this one for weeks.

At first glance, How to Talk to Your Succulent might seem like a whimsical story about adolescence and grief, but it’s so much more. This is a book about advocating for yourself and others, about the courage to be vulnerable in front of loved ones, about asking for help, and - above all - about empathy. It’s a reminder that communication is the foundation of both personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around us.

While the themes may seem aimed at younger audiences, this book speaks just as loudly to adults. In fact, adults should take it especially seriously - set aside the "been there, done that" attitude, and you might just rediscover something long forgotten.

Of course, I initially picked this up for the succulents (as any true plant lover would), but I stayed for everything else. The art is stunning, the storytelling is heartfelt, and the author’s approach is just chef’s kiss. There’s even a note at the end detailing the creative process, tools, and inspirations behind the book - plus a quick guide on propagating your own succulent! Just… wow.

Highly recommend this one - whether you have a green thumb or just need a gentle, beautifully illustrated reminder to nurture yourself and the people around you as much as your plants.

An absolutely stunning exploration of grief, family, friendships, and finding yourself - with a liberal splash of magic thrown in. The illustration style is gorgeous, and the story has a lot of heart. I will be recommending this one widely, to adults and children alike!

How to Talk to Your Succulent is a beautiful and emotional story of a young girl's path from the darkness of grief to the light of healing.

I really loved this story. It showed the depth and complexities of grief not only in our young protagonist's life, but also in her dad's. Adara's feelings are relatable and so authentically raw. It's hard to be uprooted from all you've ever known and to regrow when grief is still so fresh, striking chords of heartbreak with the familiarity of a favorite dish. I liked how grandma was a visible light for Adara, giving her freedom and trust, while pushing her son to open up to Adara about the grief they both share.

The use of a succulent as a metaphor was brilliant and so fitting to this story. I loved how Perle's life is parallel to Adara's, slowly learning how to take care of themselves too.

12/10 recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc.

After Adara’s mother dies suddenly, her and her father move across the country from sunny California to cold Michigan to live with Adara’s grandmother. Adara struggles to find herself in her grief, and struggles to connect with her father who doesn’t know how to talk to her about everything that’s happened. When Adara discovers she can talk to plants like her mother used to, she befriends her new succulent Perle, but making new friends while struggling with your own pain, grief, and anxiety, isn’t as simple as she thought. Adara has to learn that listening and respecting others needs is just as important as talking about your own.

I knew going into this that this would be an emotional read, as I lost my mom two months ago. This graphic novel absolutely blew me away. The artwork was beautiful. The story portrayed grief in many different ways through both Adara and her father and felt very realistic and moving. Adara and her father both grow and come together throughout their grief. The plant characters were so cute and fun and this was overall a really good story. I found it very moving and I think this is an important portrayal of grief that is perfect for the middle grade readers that it is written for.

5 ⭐️

How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico is a very entertaining and breezy read. The artwork is beautiful and the paneling consistently pushes the story forward.

The character developments and side plots were a little too melodramatic for me, but it is an exploration of how to deal with grief and other life-changing events. The main character's struggles and confusion were very real, even if the story was about talking to plants.

After her mom's recent passing, Adara and her dad move from California to Michigan to start anew. She doesn't understand why they had to leave home and she feels more alone than ever as her dad avoids her attempts at talking to him about their loss.

When Adara gets a succulent, she soon discovers she can talk to plants and becomes friends with it. Navigating the struggles of moving to a new place, her grief, and the growing distance between her and her dad, Adara slowly finds herself suffocating from frustration and loneliness.

This book reminds us of the importance of advocating for ourselves, while also being present with our family and friends. There are heavy and tender moments, and overall it's a heartwarming story.

This interestingly titled graphic novel is full of heart and whimsy.
While I do not usually gravitate towards books that deal with death and loss this title did a wonderful job of illustrating the feelings and isolation that can be caused by not being able to process grief. I think the friendship shown in the story both with plants and people was fairly done but could have gone a bit further.
I do love an informative fiction book and the end notes on how to propagate a succulent was wonderful.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tundra Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this book. The art is gorgeous, I felt myself getting lost in the illustrations and wanting to admire every brushstroke and choice of color. The story is touching and real and I couldn't put this down.

I love how this book used plant imagery to explore grief and communication. As well as how realistic the journey of our MC was. This is a topic everyone has or will experience and theres just something so magical about how it was explored in this novel.

I highly recommend if you're looking for a beautifully illustrated and written story.

First of all, can I just say I LOVE LOVE LOVED this art style. Secondly the story was one I will definitely reread, this graphic novel can speak into the hearts of people of all ages. The plants were adorable and the explorations of grief were something that truly touched me. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the E-ARC.

How to Talk to Your Succulent is a charmingly illustrated dive into grief. The subject matter is heavy, but necessary to every single person. Adara is a very mature preteen, realizing that she needs to talk about her feelings. Navigating her new normal as she adjusts and discovers an ever changing landscape of what day to day looks like is touching. I believe this book will be able to reach into the parts that are struggling to heal of those who pick it up. Magical realism in a beautiful graphic novel with heavy hitting subject matter...what more could one ask for?
I also really enjoy the information found at the end about propagating succulents!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read and advanced copy in return for my honest review!

How to Talk to Your Succulent is a graphic novel following young Adara as she learns she can talk to plants after her mother's death. The illustrations were gorgeous, colorful, and the plants were SO CUTE. The story had strong themes of friendship and grief and had such tender moments. I loved this graphic novel. 10/10

I received an ARC from Penguin Random House Canada | Tundra Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Zoe Persico’s debut middle grade graphic novel is a poignant tale of the aftermath of a loved one’s death and finding courage to confront one’s own anxieties and insecurities. After her mother’s passing, Adara finds herself swept away by her father from sunny California to cold Michigan to live with grandma. Through beautiful illustrative panels and delightful character designs, the story navigates through Adara’s struggles at home trying to connect with her closed off father, at school with a new friend also dealing with an overbearing parent, all the while discovering that she could talk to plants just like her mother. It’s a story that would touch many hearts and help those who have lost someone dear to them.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely middle grade graphic novel about a young girl, Adara, who moves from California to her grandmother's house in Michigan with her dad after her mom passes away. There she attempts to bridge an emotional gap with her father, makes a friend, and learns that she can literally talk to plants. Her mother also had a special connection to plants. But then gaps in communication and misunderstandings cause hurt feelings, and Adara must learn from her mistakes even if they had no ill intent.
I loved the messaging in this book and how nuanced and real it felt, even with the talking plants. It showed how, in a very real way, hurt people can hurt others unintentionally. It was a lovely to showcase this idea using plants because plants cannot (usually) verbally communicate what is wrong with them, so you have to be observant and check in regularly. The art was also nicely stylized and comforting. The colors were lovely.
Overall this was very well thought out and a wonderful way to communicate something that can be difficult to explain to a younger person.

This story was very cute. I love the overall message of overcoming grief. My favorite part of this work is how beautiful the art style is.

This was such a great book! I loved the art style. It was different than the other styles you see in middle grade graphic novels nowadays. The themes of grief combined with the fantasy plant magic was a super great way to show the emotions and development of the main character. It made me want a succulent myself!