Published by Etch/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary:  In this spinoff from the Click series, best friends Liz and Chanda are trying to make some money.  When their lemonade stand fails, Liz’s older sister hands over her dog-sitting job to the two girls.  They’re thrilled to get to hang out at the owner’s fancy home, raiding her closet and posting photos of themselves in luxurious surroundings.  When the popular girls see the pictures, they want a piece of the action.  Liz and Chanda invite one of the girls over, but she brings three more; in the ensuing chaos, an expensive lamp gets broken.  As the girls try to make amends, they learn some important lessons about responsibility and friendship and are able to bring about a satisfying conclusion for everyone.  Includes six pages of Q&A with the book’s creators and four pages showing how the illustrations were created.  216 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  There ought to be a name for the Raina Telgemeier/Victoria Jamieson/Shannon Hale/Jennifer Holm genre of graphic novels.  Whatever that name is, this book will have great appeal to fans of it.  It’s a realistic friendship story about irresponsibility and learning to make amends for it.  Hoping to see more books about Liz and Chanda.

Cons:  Chanda’s parents were kind of insufferable with their favoritism toward their older daughter. 

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  A boy tells the story of his family in the present and through a series of flashbacks.  His older sister Laetitia, growing bored with life on the Blackfoot reserve in Alberta, moves to Salt Lake City.  The boy and his mother decide to visit her.  At the border, they’re asked for their citizenship, and the mother replies, “Blackfoot.”  This is not an acceptable answer for crossing the border into the U.S., nor will it allow them back into Canada, and the two of them are stuck at the crossing for days.  Finally, after the media descends on the station, the boy and his mother are allowed to cross into the United States.  They visit Laetitia, who has come to appreciate her family and heritage more and is considering returning home, before an uneventful trip back to Canada.  192 pages; grades 5-8.

Pros:  This brief but powerful graphic novel, based on a short story by the author, provides plenty of food for thought about the artificial nature of nations and borders and the impact they have on indigenous people who lived in those places long before the nations existed.  

Cons:  Several reviews recommend this for grades 3 and up, but in my opinion, the language and content make it more of a middle school book. It’s a deceptively simple story that younger kids may not fully grasp.

Published by First Second

Summary:  Charise tells the story of her childhood with her younger brother Daniel, from the time he comes home from the hospital through the next several years growing up together.  Each chapter is entitled “The Power of _____” (The Power of the Trick, The Power of Seeing and Knowing).  At first, Charise enjoys her unfettered power as the older sibling, and doesn’t care if Daniel gets hurt or upset.  But as she grows older, she begins to experience more guilt about abusing her power, culminating with an accident in which she breaks Daniel’s tooth.  Her parents blame her, and she considers herself a “bad sister”, but the truth is more nuanced, with parental dynamics and regular kids’ play/roughhousing playing a part.  The final chapter, “The Biggest Power”, reveals Daniel’s power to forgive, allowing Charise to admit to the traits that she admires in her younger brother.  Includes a photo of the real Charise and Daniel as kids.  240 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  This graphic memoir deserves a place alongside Raina Telgemeier’s, Jennifer and Matthew Holms’, and Shannon Hale’s books, and will undoubtedly be enjoyed by a similar audience.  Anyone who’s ever had a sibling will recognize the friendship, torment, guilt, and forgiveness that are all part of Charise’s and Daniel’s relationship.

Cons:  Young Charise was awfully hard on herself.

Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Summary:  Hudi just wants to hang out with his imaginary friend Chunky and make people laugh, but his parents think it’s better for him to play sports.  Not only are they concerned about his weight, but he had some health issues as a child that resulted in him losing part of a lung.  Most of the chapters have sports titles: “Soccer”, “Football”, “Swimming” as he tries one after and other and not only fails, but often ends up in the emergency room with some sort of injury.  in the last chapter “Theater”, he finds his true passion; his parents eventually come around and become his biggest cheerleaders.  Includes an author’s note with additional autobiographical information and a couple of photos.  208 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  An engaging graphic memoir; kids struggling to find their own identities will relate to Hudi’s difficulties on the sports field and cheer for him as he discovers where he really belongs–on stage.

Cons:  In his author’s note, Mercado says how he and his dad shared a passion for art.  While this is alluded to very briefly in the story, it would have been an interesting dimension of their relationship to play up a little more.

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  Alyssa Bermudez used her real diaries from seventh and eighth grade to create this graphic novel that takes place in New York City from 2000 to 2002.  Her main concerns starting seventh grade are dealing with the popular kids, her crush on Alejandro, and owning as many pairs of funky shoes as her parents and Catholic school will allow.  She slowly matures through the next two years, a process that is hastened by 9/11 (her parents both work in the financial district), her father’s illness, and a desire to get into the best high school she can.  By graduation time, it’s clear she’s ready for the new challenges that lie ahead in high school.  Includes a 4-page author’s note with lots more information and photos about her life during those years.  288 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Fans of the Raina Telgemeier graphic novel genre will love the real-life story of Alyssa that includes many light moments (shaving her eyebrows, accidentally dyeing her hair orange), as well as the very serious ones engendered by being so close to the events of 9/11.  

Cons:  The art is all done in blue and black…I prefer the full-color illustration of Telgemeier and Victoria Jamieson.

Published by JY

Summary:  Grace is excited to be starting middle school, but before long she’s dealing with what’s been a lifelong problem for her: living in the shadow of her popular, athletic brother Kyle.  One of her two best friends, Jay, has a crush on Kyle, and the other friend, Amy is trying to push the shyer Jay into telling Kyle how she feels about him.  Finally, Jay and Grace have had enough, and the whole friendship falls apart at a disastrous sleepover.  Feeling friendless, Grace welcomes the overtures of a more popular girl named Cam, and enjoys hanging out with her and her friends until she starts to notice what a bully Cam can be, particularly towards Amy.  When Grace learns that Cam has a crush on Kyle and is just using Grace to get to her brother, she realizes that Cam isn’t a real friend…and that Amy and Jay were.  Fortunately, the two other girls have come to a similar conclusion, and the friendship is soon back and better than ever (and even Kyle turns out to be not such a bad guy).  240 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  Did you follow all that?  There is a LOT of middle school drama in these 240 pages, but it is true to life, and fans of the realistic fiction graphic novel genre will love both the story and the anime-style art.

Cons:  At times, dialog was written in bubbles with no little tail indicating who was saying the words, which I found a bit confusing.