Review by Frank Plowright

With Bounce Back now having a policy of switching the spotlight around an ensemble cast, Nala was the logical choice this time around, having played a part in the lives of previous stars Lilico and Emma. She was Emma’s childhood friend before a falling out eventually rectified in No Such Thing as Perfect, while her love of Japanese culture meant she was welcoming to new student Lilico in the first volume. What we also already know about Nala is that she’s very talented at making clothes and costumes. However, the way Masako Rocks! produces this series Sew Totally Nala can be read alone with no knowledge of the previous books.

Rocks! again introduces a whole new cast to build the story around while still including those featured before. In this case it’s Emma’s sister Julia who suggests Nala might want to come along to a fashion design summer school. Establishing new characters might seem like a lot of extra work, but as before, the new supporting cast are largely restricted to a single personality trait and we’re never treated to their inner feelings as we are with the starring role.

Whereas previous volumes have dropped Japanese elements in passing, fashion influenced by designs from Tokyo’s Harajuku district is a constant theme here, with Nala not the only enthusiast. Like Emma before her, Nala discovers she’s moving up from a place where everyone praises her talent to one where she’s mixing with the other kids that happens to. Her character is confident and positive, but this is a challenge. Also following the pattern of previous books is Nala meeting her guardian spirit, this time in the form of a squirrel. Here the less simple route is taken, with the guardian spirits in the books each having different personalities.

Nala’s crisis point arrives when another student accuses her of copying her design. She hasn’t, but the accusation hurts and she worries about the damage to her reputation.

An ongoing feature at the back of the shows readers how to draw their versions of characters, and Rocks! has surely missed a trick in not creating some cut out dolls with clothing to accompany a story about fashion. However, this is another well conceived slice of drama pretty well guaranteed to appeal to the target audience of young girls.