Fab 4 Mania

Tyler, Carol. Fab 4 Mania
June 6th 2018 by Fantagraphics
Public library copy

Set in 1965, this large format graphic novel follows a young girl through the stages of her obsession with the Beatles. From their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1965 until their concert at Cominsky Park, we follow the ups and downs of school, home life, and music. There are so many wonderful things mentioned-- her brand new Catholic school with its aqua and white tile walls, her reactions to the week after Kennedy was shot, getting a dress for graduation, and all the little details of what it was like to be alive when the Beatles were producing music and new songs were coming out frequently. There are lots of pictures, which help make the 1960s very vivid, especially pages where the different radios everyone has are pictured, or details of summer vacation are drawn. The end of the book is a fantastic description of what it was like to see the Beatles in concert in person.
Strengths: This had so many wonderful details about daily life in the 1960s, and is based off the author's own diaries from the time. It is a fantastic cultural resource, and will remind Baby Boomers why they fell in love with this musical group. There are still an inordinate amount of middle school students who know who the Beatles are, which never ceases to amaze me, and I can see them picking this book up.
Weaknesses: The paperback is $26 from Follett. This is a very long book, and the hand writing style font made this a bit slow going. If I could buy this in prebind, I'd invest in this, since we have a 1960s unit that the 7th graders do.
What I really think: I'm going to have to pass on purchasing because of format and cost, but this was fascinating. I have two copies of Ann Hood's She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah that I will give to students instead.