A review by toad_maiden
The Bug Girl: A True Story by Margaret McNamara, Sophia Spencer

4.0

I should preface this review with the fact that I am the perfect adult audience for this book: I was a "bug girl" for most of my childhood. I played with spiders and woodlice and honeybees and worms every day. When asked what I wanted for my eighth birthday, I could think of nothing more wonderful than a chance to hold a living tarantula (which seemed perfectly normal to me, and which my obliging parents arranged through the local natural history museum). I took home gold medals in the insect category of the Science Olympiad several years; I seriously considered becoming an arachnologist as a kid. I loved--and still love--bugs.

So this book hit me right in the "I feel seen" spot. Sophia's enthusiasm for the world of mini-beasts felt true to my own experience, and her enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge lit up these pages. I can't say that the story itself or the illustrations are in any way ground-breaking, but for me at least, the feeling here rings true and clear.