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Just Roll with It by Veronica Agarwal, Lee Durfey-Lavoie
4.0
emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Just Roll With It follows Maggie, a girl who struggles with OCD and is just trying to get through her first year in middle school. To help make all of her decisions, she uses a d20 dice, but what happens when it doesn't give her the answer that she wants?

This was an absolutely adorable graphic novel! What I liked the most about it was the way it dealt with Maggie's OCD. Like many kids, she's hesitant at first to actually ask for help. When her parents approach her about therapy, she doesn't think she needs it, mostly because of the stigmas that exist around mental illness and going to therapy. But once she finally realizes that she needs help, therapy is portayed as something positive and useful.

Maggie's friend Clara is also super supportive and helpful for Maggie. She realizes that Maggie might be having anxiety attacks and she helps her through them. I loved seeing their friendship grow throughout the book. Starting 6th grade is scary, and being able to find friends is one of the most nerve wracking things. But their friendship is so easy, and I was happy to see them get closer as the book goes on.

The art in this is fantastic, especially the way Maggie's anxiety attacks are depicted. Incorporating the role playing game will also bring in a lot of middle grade readers, I think. The way this is incorporated in Maggie's every day life also helps in building Maggie's character and the rest of this world.

The only reason this isn't getting a full 5 stars is because I do think it gets a little long. There are pieces of the story that probably could have been edited out and the story would have still made sense.

All in all, if you're looking for a middle grade graphic novel that deals with anxiety, this is definitely the book for you!

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