Sashimi (Sashimi #1)

Slapstick adventure, middle school hijinks, and churlish humor drip from this literal fish-out-of-water tale by Santat (Thick as Thieves). On a mission to find others who look like him, lonely but good-natured, mermaid-raised Sashimi—a boy with a fish head and a scale-covered humanoid body—leaves his underwater home. Upon arriving in Barnacle Bay, Sashimi travels ashore and enrolls himself at a nearby school. Donning a pilfered red hoodie, Sashimi inserts himself into a sixth grade class, claiming to be a “real kid” (his makeshift student ID hilariously features an IRL headshot of a fish). With help from the class’s pet goldfish, Kevin, Sashimi dodges suspicion from his peers, who question his inexplicably overactive sweat glands, cold dead eyes, and aquatic odor. But when he’s caught in a figurative net of conspiracy surrounding the legend of the Beast of Barnacle Bay sea monster, he’ll have to work overtime to avoid blowing his cover. Sashimi’s eager gaze immediately draws readers into this laugh-out-loud graphic novel series opener, which features a steady stream of jokes and bitingly funny asides accompanied by straightforward comics panels rendered using soft black line art and dusty earth tones. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 6–10. (Apr.)