by Béka ; translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger ; illustrated by Maya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 2024
A solid step in the right direction for the series.
Lola, Grace, and their friends continue to explore the ups and downs of love.
Grace struggles with shuttling back and forth between her newly divorced parents. Meanwhile, Lola is focusing less on romance and more on her friends, including helping Adele turn her new studio into a place where they can develop their respective artistic passions. Smarmy, arrogant Sean asks out Felicity; when she says no, he attempts to turn the entire school against her, but the other girls back her up. When Adele’s art starts selling out at a local gallery, she’s invited to Sardinia to paint a mural, and she brings Lola and Grace along. There, the girls learn more truths about romance and relationships even as a development back home creates a compelling cliffhanger for the next installment. Translated from French, this graphic novel is a big improvement over the first volume. Though most characters’ faces remain similar looking, friendship takes center stage here and allows for deeper ruminations on love. The series still struggles to deliver messages about topics such as coercion, harassment, and loneliness without resorting to overblown caricatures—most of the male characters are one-dimensional, and one of the girls has a cartoonishly neglectful mother. But the emphasis on the girls’ commitment to one another helps the messages land more smoothly and provides hope for the third book. Most characters present white; Grace is Black.
A solid step in the right direction for the series. (Graphic fiction. 10-15)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781662640599
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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by Béka ; illustrated by Maya ; translated by Jessie Aufiery & Ivanka Hahnenberger
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Raina Telgemeier & illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2012
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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SEEN & HEARD
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