Nerdycorn

Fern the unicorn likes fixing and inventing more than prancing and dancing, a fact that gets her teased. When things fall apart at the party, her friends learn to see the value in her gifts. But will she want to help them after they call her names? 

I love this book because it pushes back on the idea that feminine can’t mean smart. Even better, it honors Fern’s reaction to the bullying rather than pushing the normal narrative of easy forgiveness. I admire its emotional honesty.

This is a different take on a unicorn. Fern loves chemistry and math more than glitter and flowers. She prefers building robots and coding software to jumping through shimmering rainbows. Her friends make fun of her until they need her to fix the confetti machine. I love that Fern refuses to change for anyone. This book teaches kids about always about being themselves—and that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself too.