Marsha Is Magnetic

Faced with the problem of handing out birthday party invitations (without any friends to hand them out to), Marsha—an avid scientist—turns to the trusty scientific method. While telling a story through the steps of the scientific method is a challenging undertaking, Ferry pulls it off with flying colors, resulting in a wildly original yet comfortingly familiar tale of the truest way to find friends—being yourself. After Marsha observes a popular girl (Step 1: Observe), she seeks her parents’ advice (Step 2: Questions) on what makes her so. Clever wordplay by Ferry delights throughout, as Marsha takes her dad’s suggestion that the popular Christa has a “magnetic” personality literally and applies her STEAM skills to “attract” some friends. Fellow students’ various metallic accoutrements come flying towards Marsha’s magnetized contraption, and she hands out invitations. Alvarez’s illustrations—which seamlessly celebrate diversity of all kinds—are bright and playful, nicely exaggerating the effectiveness of Marsha’s magnetic impact and infusing the book with a unique style that perfectly complements Marsha’s personality—vibrant, nerdy, and absolutely one-of-a-kind.

It turns out that the best way to draw others to you is by being yourself in this sweet, STEAM-minded picture book from New York Times bestselling author Beth Ferry.

Marsha is a scientist who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. But when it comes to making friends to invite to her birthday party, she is stumped. Luckily, Marsha knows the solution to being stumped: the scientific method. With equal parts creativity, determination, and humor, Marsha sets out to attract as many friends as she can—what could possibly go wrong? In this hilarious celebration of friendship and ingenuity, Beth Ferry and Lorena Alvarez show readers that the best way to attract friends is to simply be yourself.