Ginger can’t wait to invite all the girls from her class to her birthday party — except weird Lyla Browning. Quiet Lyla smells like old leaves and made the unpopular decision to bring a tarantula for Show-and-Tell. But Ginger’s mother says she has to invite everyone. Nothing at the party goes the way Ginger had imagined and it’s spiraling toward disaster, with Ginger in tears, until she and Lyla share an unexpected laugh over a visiting ladybug. And when Ginger opens her presents, among the predictable toys she finds Lyla’s handmade bird’s nest holding two chocolate malted milk eggs. After the others head home, the two girls share the eggs and some imaginary play to launch their friendship. Everything rings true in this honest portrayal of familiar scenarios, from party meltdown to a child who is different from her peers. Pencil, gouache, and digital collage illustrations express the emotions of Ginger’s big day with whimsy and heart. (Ages 4–8)

A birthday party sets the scene in this sweet and relatable story for anyone who’s ever been the odd girl out.

It’s Ginger’s birthday, and she has to invite all the girls in her class to her party, including Lyla Browning. Lyla isn’t like the other girls: she smells like old leaves, doesn’t talk much, and once brought a tarantula to school for show-and-tell. On the day of the party, Lyla is much earlier than everyone else. But even after the others arrive, Ginger’s party doesn’t go quite the way she’d hoped: some of the girls change the rules to the games, and no one likes her silver and gold birthday cake — except Lyla. By the time Lyla gives Ginger her present — a tiny homemade nest with two delicious malted-milk eggs — Ginger begins to wonder: is being different really such a bad thing?