Julie and the Blue Guitar

Published in 2024; author Casey Gilly; illustrator Felia Hanakata; with layout by Sarah Stern, coloring by Sunbiscuit, and lettering by Joamette Gil

Plot

Fifth-grader Emma Dhillon has just moved to San Francisco, to an apartment in the building where Julie used to live with her mom. The building now has a thrift shop, where Emma finds Julie's old diary. She and Julie have a lot in common, most notably their parents' recent divorces. Through the diary, Emma gets a glimpse into Julie's life during the events of the Julie mystery book The Silver Guitar (the story's not identical, but it's very close and the book jacket mentions it with credit to that author; I'm betting that the color switch was due to wanting a color that stood out more for the graphic novel). Here, the titular guitar is said to have belonged to folk singer Lacey Blick rather than a Jimi Hendrix expy, the Vernons' cat is very sweet instead of spoiled, the Vernons both enthusiastically enjoy collecting a few sentimental and historical items some of which also go missing, and Mrs. Vernon is very nice. The stolen items end up having been hocked to various stores, and Julie and TJ track them down (except for a baseball signed by Willie Mays), eventually linking the thefts to the pair of photographers hired to document the items for the auction.

First page of Julie's journal

As Emma reads the tale in the journal, she's inspired to make a movie about trying to track down Julie. She and her dad travel to some of the places mentioned in the journal--they figure it's a good way to learn about their new home. In the process, Emma, who's naturally very shy, ends up befriending Hana, who helps Emma with research at the library. Not only is Emma able to find Julie, she also finds the autographed baseball--the thieves used to live in the apartment that Emma and her dad moved to, and Emma finds small hidden door, with the baseball behind it. She's able to present it to Julie in person, who in turn contacts the Vernons' nephew (the Vernons have passed away). The nephew lets Emma keep it, and she auctions it off for charity.

Emma meets Julie, who's on the San Francisco city council

Emma finishes her movie, shows it in her new school, and soon has joined the AV club. She's happy to have found a way to both be herself and make friends.

A Peek into the Past

This section talks about some of the famous 70s music stars like Jimi Hendrix, and how they "played hard and died young" leaving valuable memorabilia that has been auctioned for various causes. The 70s also saw a large wave of benefit activities like concerts and other fundraisers to help with everything from school funding to environmental concerns.

Misc

This is the first book a new series, Mysteries Across Time. There is a book featuring Isabel and Nicki...and Bigfoot announced for next year. I hope The X-Files gets a mention; it was not only very popular in their time period but a good chunk of the series was filmed in the Pacific Northwest.

Special thanks are given to Janelle Asselin, Katherine Cartwright, Jodie Goldberg, Jennifer Hirsch, Vaeries Paulin, Molly Schlichting, and Wendy Walsh for their "invaluable assistance."

The last two pages of the book are a spread informing the reader how graphic novels are made.

One of the items that's featured in the 70s is an antique friendship quilt, which may well be the one from Happy Birthday, Kirsten! 

I like that the librarian is in a wheelchair but it's not a big deal. You'd never know aside from the illustrations--same case for Emma being POC. Visual media is great for this sort of thing.

This is genuinely great representation and I love it