Buckle Up

Lindell, Lawrence. Buckle Up
August 27, 2024 by Random House Graphic
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Lonnie 's parents have recently divorced, and he is struggling with the transition. He and his sister Nicole fight quite a bit, but do try to listen to their mother when she tells them to knock it off. One of the particularly difficult things about the divorce is after school pick up. Lonnie wants to be dropped off and picked up at a corner a bit away from school, because he feels like the other students have too many questions about why his parents no longer pick him up together. He tells his father that he is the only child in his class whose parents are divorced. At the beginning of the book, he doesn't speak to his father a lot as they shuttle back and forth; we see a lot of Lonnie's internal monologue with himself. As he and his father spend more time together, sometimes getting food or visiting the comic book store together, Lonnie shares more with his father about what is going on in his life. In addition to the divorce and the emotional difficulties this has caused for Lonnie, they discuss detentions that Lonnie has assigned for teasing a boy who was bullying him and the trouble he is in for forging his mother's signature. We see an exploration of how Lonnie and his father feel about the fact that one of the boys in his class, Ray, has two mothers. The father thinks this is not "the norm", which makes Lonnie worry, since he thinks he might be bisexual. The father prints out a pamphlet to share with his son, and they can discuss the issue. The topic of family therapy comes up as well. And the end of the book, Lonnie is comfortable enough with his family's situation to be picked up at the front of the school building. 

Strengths: There are not as many books about tweens navigating life with divorced parents as you would think, so this fills a definite need. Urban's Weekends with Max and His Dad works for slightly younger readers, and Levy's The Jake Show for slightly older ones. Lonnie's internal dialogue is nicely show in outlines of the character or in monochrome drawings, and contrasts nicely with what he actually says to his father. The examples of acting out are intriguing, and the discussion of family therapy helpful to young readers who might be in a similar circumstance. 
Weaknesses: At my school, it seems like more students live in single parent families than two parent ones, so it seemed unusual that Lonnie would be so ashamed that his parents were divorced. Also, since most of the book deals with emotional issues being discussed during car rides, this is a rather slow moving story. 
What I really think: The most obvious read alike for Buckle Up is Reynold's Stuntboy books or Sharp's Just Pretend, but since this is a graphic novel, there is a built in audience for it no matter what the content.