This book includes many useful tips for writing. The most difficult part for me is getting stated and I found this book helpful with getting over that obstacle.

Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac is bright and colorful with beautiful art alongside vivid written descriptions. This graphic novel illustrates similarities between writing as an art and other artistic pursuits like music, painting, and dance. It reminds you, as the reader, that your story is important.

We are encouraged to write about things we're passionate about, no matter how big or small. Visualize, brainstorm, use all your senses, and focus on the details. Miss Mary Mac shares strategies to keep your work flowing and reminds us not to expect perfection but to give ourselves permission to write badly. Eventually, our practice and hard work will pay off!

three and a half stars.
a good read, i wanted more lessons though. more teaching parts. it felt like there were a lot of parts where it was just flat. plus, it was hard to stick with it. it was ok though. just needed more of a story, more lessons, more teaching parts.
pretty good though.

This is a very pretty graphic novel about the creative process of writing. It's extremely lyrical, and even includes quite a number of poems. It talks about slowing down, observing the world, and writing with great detail. It mentions a lot about the creative process and how writers are artists, comparing them to painters, dancers, and musicians. It's more of an ode to writing than a how-to book.

I'd love to see LaFille illustrate graphic novels; they'd be very popular with my students. The artwork reminded me a bit of Elliott's TASTY and YUMMY, but with softer lines and a more pastel palette.

As far as using this to encourage students to write or to help them with their process, I'm not sure this would be very helpful for students who weren't interested in writing to begin with. There's a lot of philosophy and flowery language. Children who already consider themselves writers will love this.

Mary McInerney has written a cheerful and engaging graphic novel for young writers and all writers young at heart. The book reflects some of the questions kids (and adults) have about writing such as where do ideas come from and how to keep a story going once the initial bright idea has sparked. The author also provides insights in how to live a writing life and thoughts on the overall creative process. This would be a great gift for the budding creative writer in your life, or for the adult needing some creative inspiration from a different angle. Recommended! I received an advance galley from Netgalley, which did not influence this review.

Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac: A Handbook for Young and Future Authors written by Mary Mclnerney is an informative graphic novel with colorful, engaging, and inspiring artwork by Rivkah LaFille. Overall an excellent collaboration guaranteed to promote both reading and writing.

Graphic novels have become more popular over the last decade and while many adults still don't consider graphic novels proper reading, they often convert familiar books into an easily digested format. Any reading is good reading, especially when free time for children and teenagers competes against video games and television. For non-fiction, the graphic novel format can reach more readers than a physical book, especially if the artwork is compelling.

The artwork in Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac is absolutely fabulous and the color, by Jim Kettner, is eye-catching. The advice is both solid and beautifully presented. There are incredible tips in this graphic novel that encourage readers to write. The description says "readers are encouraged to view writing as a means of artistic expression, fostering a deeper connection to their words and emotions." I absolutely agree.

This book should encourage writers to not only practice, but improve their writing. The book describes writing as an art form and explores where ideas come from. It offers chapters on "creating strong images" and "moving things along", living a “writer's kind of life" and covers "our creative process."

The author "investigated methods to engage reluctant writers" and infused this book with her wisdom. The beauty is that she's also addressing reluctant readers with this format.

"Writing is an art and writers are artists, and we need to practice our art." With wisdom like this, Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac should be a vital component of school libraries in both digital and physical formats. I look forward to purchasing several copies for the children in my life, as well as having one in my personal library.

I highly recommend it.

There are many portions of this book I could use to supplement my 8th graders writing. I feel like this almost reads like a narrative rather than a nonfiction book which is probably intentional since many students have a hard time keeping engaged with a nonfiction how to book. I'm bound to a certain curriculum so I could never take this and use in full as a classroom text, although I know many educators out there have the ability to do that. I think it would be a good resource to keep in my classroom for differentiation and to help with some of my challenged writers. I also feel that it would be a great gift for any students who feel very inclined to write and want to improve their writing for maybe 5-9 graders. I especially appreciate the authors emphasis on reading if you want to be a good writer and how some books are better for certain concepts like plot driven vs character driven.

A wonderful guide for those starting their writing journey. I love the comparisons to other art forms, and the tips it offers to create the most of your story. The encouraging tone throughout the book is wonderful as well.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC for this book. This book is wonderful for young writers who need inspiration in a fun way. The graphics pair beautifully with the text.

“Writing is your thoughts—nothing more, nothing less, and yet everything.”

I enjoyed the artwork very much. The drawings were beautiful. The prose used to convey what Miss Mac was teaching us was wonderful as well. I really loved the connection between different art forms, their similarities to writing as an art form, and the descriptions of how other artists navigated their own mediums.

The graphic novel gently carries the reader along as we progress through the story, yet I felt like it passed by so quickly because of the level of attention and focus I had while reading. Miss Mac provided excellent examples of the writing experience. With each section, I could see how a story could be told with one word after another, and then another. Ms. Mac did what all great authors do with their novels: she showed us, rather than told us, how writing can flow from a writer. As readers, we always love this method because it is so enjoyable.

Miss Mac suggested great writing exercises to reignite inspiration. My favorite was one I had never heard of before: the spiral method. I thought this was a great hands-on technique to play around with and try. To me, this graphic novel exists to inspire writers to allow themselves to think, create, and educate themselves more about the writing process—and also about how to connect with their artwork, their writing, and their ideas, while creating a foundation that allows them to grow. Miss Mac expressed and showed many different ideas and shared many of her thoughts about the writing process. There are methods we could all easily attempt on our own. For example, she mentioned creating a writing space that brings happiness and inspiration, and she showed us her writing space as an example.

My one complaint: some of the text with an artistic flair, without the text boxes, was hard to read at times. Personally, I almost skimmed over many of them because they blended a little too well with the artwork.

Overall, this is an awesome novel and I had a great time reading it. 5/5 stars!

I thought this book was a great way to explain the writing process to any age. Graphic novels are so underutilized for non-fiction. It is great that there are more books coming out about so many different subjects, especially for visual learners and people who learn well through stories. The art was so expressive. I loved the part with the poetic illustrations. It helps set the importance for word choice and how people can interpret it visually.

Creative writing with Miss Mary Mac is itself a piece of art—beautifully embodying what it sets out to teach. I found myself swaying to its rhythm, in tune with its chords, swept up in its brushstrokes, and mesmerized by its words. It presents the writing process as both simple and profound, clear yet layered, grounded yet full of possibility.
The illustrations are vibrant and expressive, but it’s the writing that truly captivated me. It offers a fresh, intuitive way to think about writing.
This is a wonderful read for students, educators, aspiring writers, or anyone seeking a creative spark. Whether given as a gift or kept as a personal companion, it’s a book that lingers long after the last page.

The problem here may have been me, but I expected a book that I could hand to young authors to help guide them through exercises. <i>Handbook</i> is, after all, in the title. Instead, I got mostly a treatise on what it means to be a creative writer, with a few exercises described, but not guided. If I were teaching a creative writing course, this might be a useful core text, but as a librarian, I'm not sure who I would be recommending this book to in my student body. I really do hope that this is released in a way where it's easy to buy class sets, as I think it will be useful in that scenario.

There are some truly beautiful spreads in the text that I would happily buy as posters, though.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

This was so unique! I love how the book is organized as a fun graphic novel all while teaching kids how to be creative writers. I really enjoyed the illustrative way used to help with flow of practicing various kinds of writing concepts. I think for students and young people, this book is presented in a way that would actually be efficient vs a more traditional layout like in the typical educational textbook since the graphic novel layout is fun to read. The illustrations are bright, and colorful; modern character designs that make it much more inviting for younger readers, but could be used for older students as well. I would highly recommend this book for anyone teaching an ELA class or anything that relies on creativity.

This book is so gorgeously written and illustrated! It is definitely more of a philosophical book about writing with a few practical tips sprinkled in rather than the other way around; I wish the title reflected that a little more clearly. Still, a really lovely book that I think teens who are interested in writing would particularly enjoy.

Getting kids to write creatively is a challenge that many teachers dread teaching.....until now! Put this wonderful graphic novel in their hands and watch eyes light up! Readers will be drawn in and challenged to create their own story using all of their senses!

A guide for young writers, and teachers of young writers, that guides them through the art of finding inspiration!

This graphic novel uses beautiful artwork to lead young writers through finding their creative inspirations, with both general advice and specific exercises to try. Creative writing teachers will want to use excerpts in their classes, as the illustrations help make abstract concepts more concrete.

A bit too inspirational with not enough practical advice. People like me are looking for concrete guidance, how to start, what not to forget. It's a bit to esoteric. The feeling is already there or we wouldn't be looking into creative writing in the first place.

That said, children who have to write creatively but are reluctant to might benefit from this.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Y’all, Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac is a gem of a guide for budding young writers and artists, especially those curious about graphic novels. Miss Mac's down-to-earth advice and Rivkah LaFille’s vibrant illustrations make this book both helpful and a joy to look at. It covers everything from writer’s block (go take a walk, honey!) to digging deep into emotions and everyday moments to spark real storytelling. It’s practical without being preachy, and downright inspiring. I’d recommend this for middle and high school students and teachers—especially for those kids who haven’t quite caught the writing bug yet. This book might just change their minds.

This is such a great resource for artists and aspiring writers, especially students ages 8 and up. It helps them understand the creative process, accept that mistakes are inevitable and hone their craft. I really enjoyed the graphic novel format as she was able to further show the way the creative process unfolds. She helps students see that it's ok to write badly, or to rewrite, and try to take things in a new direction. She also compares writing to other forms of art.

I was intrigued by the author's background and that she didn't write until she was an adult. This will no doubt inspire other reluctant writers. I recommend this for schools, homeschool families, and libraries.