When aspiring writer Cici becomes obsessed with discovering the deepest secrets of the people around her, believing it will help her understand them, her friends and family suffer the consequences. - (Baker & Taylor)

An aspiring young writer with a knack for people-watching endeavors to solve a mystery involving a sad elderly neighbor who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint, in a sumptuously rendered graphic novel comprised of journal notes, scrapbook pieces and doodles. - (Baker & Taylor)

Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She's been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what's hiding inside them. But now she's discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back? - (Baker & Taylor)

Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?

In a graphic novel interwoven with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles, Cici assembles clues about the odd and wonderful people she’s uncovered, even as she struggles to understand the mundane: her family and friends.

Joris Chamblain was born on January 29, 1984. He stumbled into graphic novels when he was very little and decided at an early age that comics would be his career. Nowadays he devotes all his time to writing comics and books for kids, and even trying his hand at a novel. He and his many artistic collaborators have quite a few projects in the works.

Aurélie Neyret is an illustrator from Lyon, France. When she was little, she loved to hide away and read all night long, and—more than anything else—to draw! Today, her approach to life hasn’t changed much, and she works hard to bring her projects to fruition.

Booklist Reviews

Gorgeously illustrated panels interspersed with journal pages relate the story of Cici, an aspiring author and amateur sleuth whose obsession with mysteries is both rewarding and troublesome. This French import collects two stories: in the first, Cici and her best friends spot a paint-covered man and follow him into the forest, where they discover something awe-inspiring. In the second, Cici is fixated on a sad, older woman who carries the same book to the library every week, like clockwork. In both cases, she uses her powers of observation (and nosiness!) to suss out what's really going on. Particularly in her second case, Cici ends up alienating her friends and mother in the search for the truth, and what she ultimately discovers in her investigations helps her recognize how her behavior is hurting her loved ones. The lessons are breezy, but the art is sumptuous: Neyret's naturalistic illustrations have marvelous depth, with dense color, dynamic movement, and a fantastic use of light and shadow. Fans of Luke Pearson's Hilda series will like this plucky detective, too. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

Ten-and-a-half-year-old Cici is an aspiring writer with a nose for mysteries. In part one, she spies on a paint-spattered man; in part two, she follows a woman who renews the same library book each week. Both cases (originally published as separate books in France) resolve poignantly; Cici's struggle to balance sleuthing with friendships adds emotional layers to this luminously illustrated scrapbook-style graphic novel. Copyright 2018 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

French illustrator Neyret's delicate, finely worked portraits bring elegance to this pair of graphic stories. Ten-year-old Cici is determined to become a writer and introduces her cast of characters in journal entries: her single mother, her novelist neighbor Mrs. Flores ("After meeting her that day, I knew that I wanted to write books too"), and her friends Lena and Erica. Subsequent action toggles between panel artwork, Cici's journal notes, and other correspondence. Cici successfully solves two mysteries—one in the forest that contains an abandoned zoo, the second in the local library—but her professional ambitions sometimes trip her up. More than once, she expects Lena and Erica to lie to her mother when she's out investigating, and Mrs. Flores complains that Cici only consults her when she needs information. Tension between the friends heats up during the second mystery, and Cici repents. The stories are smart and Burrell's translation is skillful, but they're hobbled somewhat by the wooden first-person narration ("For the first time I shared a big secret with my mom. Could she feel my hand shaking?") and dialogue. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)