Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci (review)

Sure, duck Theodora, the star of this short graphic novel, might swim with a teacup on her head, eat her duck pellets with mango salsa, and spend winter at home rather than fly south, but she's not "odd," like Chad, the new duck next door who dyes his feathers, makes avant-garde yard art, and scratches himself with a fork. When Theodora realizes that she and Chad have much in common—they both skipped migration and they both love to stargaze—the two begin to bond and quickly become best buds. However, when they overhear another duck snickering at one of them as an "odd duck," each is convinced the comment was intended for the other one, and their ensuing argument breaks up the duck duo. Theodora eventually realizes how much she misses Chad, and she goes to apologize but finds him headed to her house with the same intent, and the eccentric pair happily renews their friendship. The friendship plot isn't original, but the tone is appealingly droll and accessibly casual, and the visuals are filled with entertaining minutiae. Varon's art captures the quirkiness of the ducks without overplaying it, as the muted hues and tidily outlined figures, carefully posed against simple backdrops, keep the action neat and clean, while speech bubbles, comic diagrammatic arrows, and verbal commentary add further interest. Theodora, in her perpetual periwinkle attire (including hat with attached bee), and olive-spectacled Chad with his striped scarf and wacky feathered topknot are an amiable pair. Middle-graders on the verge of dog-eat-dog adolescence may find the idea of oddball pals sticking together a bolstering and affirmative one; the quirky tale may also serve as a nice prompt for a class discussion of friendship or idiosyncratic behavior.