Forever Truffle

Forever Truffle is a compilation of three interconnected stories featuring the adventures of a young red-haired boy named Truffle. In the first story, “Truffle the Rock Star”, Truffle fantasizes about becoming a rock star with his friends Flo and Riad, settling on "The Man-Eating Plants" as a potential name for their band. Although readers see a future imagined scene of them performing in front of an audience, they realize they'll actually need to learn how to play instruments first. In "Truffle Loves Nina", readers learn more about Truffle's crush on his friend Nina, and how he seeks advice from his father and brother on how to deal with these newfound feelings. Much comedy is to be had while readers observe Truffle grappling with the varying language around love, such as his father's suggestion that he "open [his] heart up." It is also a fruitful experience, as sharing his feelings with Nina results in an idea for his first song for "The Man-Eating Plants." In the final story, “Truffle Tackles Existence”, Truffle experiences the death of his great grandmother, including a visit to a funeral parlor and an encounter with extended family members.

Forever Truffle is certainly visually interesting, featuring shades of gray and black with bright splashes of colour spotlighted throughout. The pencil sketches are incredibly realistic, from a nearly photographic drawing of Nina Simone, to a perfectly-depicted leather jacket, wrinkles and all. The pages are uniquely designed, sometimes showcasing one drawing (again, the leather jacket!), other times, scenes in comic book-like cells, making it a not-quite-but-almost graphic novel. Readers will not be visually bored. The dialogue is organized within speech bubbles, a device which will be familiar to older children who read graphic novels. The characters, themselves, are depicted as diverse with regards to gender and race. While the strength of this title is in its illustrations, the text is interesting as well and propels readers along the book at a fast pace. However, the references to classic rock and jazz artists may not be relevant to young readers and are more suitable for the adult reader (or may serve as a crash course in music history!).

Forever Truffle is a book for school and public library collections.