Chasma Knights by Boya Sun and Kate Reed Petty

Beryl lives in a world where animals and insects are all toys, and most people can temporarily meld, or "catalyze", with the toys to make something new.  Beryl, however, is a Neon Knight and cannot catalyze with toys.  To compensate she has become an inventor.  One day in the Toy Market, she meets an Oxygen Knight, Coro, who is very good at catalyzing. Can their rivalry become a friendship?

Here is my graphic novel for the month.  The illustrations and story are cute, and will probably appeal to little girls rather than boys.  The premise is a little weird.  Animals and insects are really toys, and you can take out their "cores" and merge them together to make new things.  It is portrayed in a cutesy way, but when I think about it, it is seems a little Dr. Frankenstein-ish to me. No attempt at an environmental message here.  There is, however, some hidden science.  Neon Knights can't catalyze, but Oxygen knights are really good at it, because Neon is an inert gas and Oxygen is a highly reactive chemical.  So that part is a little clever.  Still, I am not sure this one is going to go far enough to warrant a sequel (though the ending suggested one.) (2018, 110 p.)