I may be biased from my year as a synchro kid, but this was a delight! Nat’s spunk and determination are infectious and I loved the nuanced layers to her friendships and family relationships. Not to mention it’s full of thoughtful Latinx, queer, and fat representation. High recommend to middle grade readers.

I really liked the concept behind this one, but I also feel like it dealt with too many topics on too much of a surface level. Would have liked to go a little deeper with one or two. Overall this would be a fun and thoughtful addition to most graphic novel collections. 

Lots of adventures, scares, humor, and great representation. Perfect for middle schoolers and I have several students who ask for scary graphic novels who will eat this one up. I felt like the ending wrapped up a little too quickly, but I liked how it was open to more books. 

This beautiful novel in verse is well-suited for middle school. The voices felt very authentic and the pressures, relationships, and family issues felt very real. Based on little details, I got the feeling the author works with tweens/teens and her bio does say teacher, which I think really pays off in this context. I didn't know this was a Greek mythology retelling when I read it, but the theme of first love and the melancholy ending really capture those vibes. I think will be a book a lot of my students will enjoy. I only wish the cover was more modern looking as I think that could lessen the appeal. 

A solid graphic novel from the creator of Allergic. This one has themes of large families, parentification, friendship, moving, and more. Fans of graphic novels targeted to elementary aged kids will enjoy.

This story was perfectly paced, believable, and the characters were well developed. And it did it all in a straightforward, satisfying 200ish pages, which is a feat in itself. I was rooting so hard for Mars to find their place on the ice and in their relationships. 

Side-note: At first I was like, wait, isn’t there already a recent middle grade release about a non-binary ice skater? But by the end I just wanted to read that one too. Bring on all the enby ice skaters!