It's MMGM with a review of Etta Invincible by Reese Eschmann

Etta Invincible by Reese Eschmann illustrations by Gretel Lusky
Publisher:  Aladdin
Format:  Hardcover
Number of pages:  368
Published:  July 12th, 2022
Source: Giveaway sponsored by Natalie Aguirre from Literary Rambles and Book via Book Depository  

Opening Lines: "Mom sits beside me on our front steps, her shoulder rubbing against mine, a swirl of steam from her coffee rising to meet the storm brewing overhead."  

12-year-old Etta Johnson lives in Chicago with her parents.  For the past several months, Etta has been experiencing Quiet Days, where everything is muffled and difficult to understand and Loud Days where she hears everything just fine.  When her allergies flare up, she even experiences headaches and dizziness.  Ever since she found out about the "Big Maybe," she's had to make some lifestyle changes including cutting salty foods out of her diet and learning how to use a speech to text app on her phone, as well as learning sign language with her parents.  Most days, Etta can be found working on her secret comic book project about Invincible Girl, a superhero who battles the evil Petra Fide.  

Lately, however Etta and her family have been sopped with a severe storm that has blown over their town, and it seems to be affecting everyone's mood.  The purple clouds hovering over the city have caused Etta to be stuck on her story and even her mom has been having difficulty with her artwork.  The only bright side is when a boy, Eleazer appears at her bus stop trying to smuggle his dog aboard the bus.  He even introduces her to Louisa, whose named after the famous author.  Just as the two are starting to get to know one another, Louisa suddenly disappears after she makes a dash for the nearby train station and gets trapped on one of the trains leaving the station.  Soon Etta and Eleazer are teaming up to rescue Louisa by boarding the magical train and as their adventure ensues, they find that each car leading to the engine room holds one challenge more difficult than the next.  Can they make their way through the train cars to the engine room and the Conductor in time to rescue Louisa?

Etta Invincible has an interesting premise involving a magical train ride to rescue a dog, while also ultimately confronting one's fears.  I quite enjoyed the graphic novel style illustrations by Gretel Lusky that opened and ended the story and would've loved even more throughout the book.  They were so well done.  Etta has Ménière’s disease, a disorder that affects her inner ear which can lead to fluctuating hearing ability, dizziness, headaches and ringing of the ears.  I personally would have liked a little more clarity about her diagnosis at the beginning of the story, some more specific details other than referring to it as the "Big Maybe," however it also seems reasonable that Etta might make up her own term to help her understand her quiet and loud days.  Etta is an endearing character, her use of a speech to text app throughout the story spoke to my speech pathology heart.  I thought it realistically portrayed the difficulties she would experience in communicating given her fluctuating hearing abilities.    I also really enjoyed the magical train.  It felt like a mix of The Polar Express and The Phantom Tollbooth, but a little more ominous.  I enjoyed the way in which each car they went through felt very unique and how it presented a riddle, puzzle, or challenges for them to decipher in order to get a clue to find the next train car door.  And let me tell you these train cars weren't easy.  I'm still squeamish about the gummi worms.   I also really liked Mariana and Akio, the two fellow travelers Etta and Eleazer met along the way, they have their own specific reasons for getting on the train and a whole set of new problems that they bring, but who also prove to be valuable in helping with some of the more challenging obstacles.   Overall, the messaging of the story is well done.  It highlights the importance of learning to except yourself and overcoming your fears via having hope.  Having hope in a brighter future and having courage to tackle the fear that is holding you back from that brighter future. 

 **A huge thank you to Natalie Aguirre from Literary Rambles for a copy of the book for my review.**

I hope you'll check all the other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.