September 23, 2025 by Versify
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Mattie and Olive are two years apart, but both in the 6th grade. Mattie struggles in school and was held back in kindergarten, while Olive is academically advanced. Both are struggling as their father is working at Duke as an adjunct linguistics professor for the summer while the girls and their mother remain at home. Mattie is frequently bullied by children at school, and tries to protect Olive from the same treatment, warning her sister that she shouldn't share too much, lest children laugh AT her rather than with her. Mattie loves to draw, and the idea of going to a summer art camp keeps her going. Olive has a crush on Max, who seems nicer than some of the other kids, but when he asks Mattie to draw for the school newspaper, The Weekly Wombat, Mattie tells Olive he is just fooling with them, trying to be mean. Mattie's teacher is concerned that she isn't doing well, and asks Mattie if she would like to be tested for learning differences, but, again, Mattie doesn't want to trust anyone. It's especially hard, since her beloved father isn't always visiting as much, and Mattie becomes convinced that something is wrong. Olive begins to feel trapped by her sister, and wants to hang out with Max and the other students from the newspaper, especially since they publish a crossword puzzle that she has created, and the other students seem to like it. Increasingly angry about her circumstances, Mattie acts out by drawing mean cartoons of her classmates and posting anonymous copies of them around the building. When she catches her father on the phone with a woman named Vivian, she becomes even more angry, and draws mean cartoons about Olive's friends. Eventually, Mattie has to come to terms with her parents' divorce, get help from her learning differences, and make amends with Olive.
Strengths: This book is told in a mixture of verse and graphic novel panels, which makes it rather unique. The illustrations are pleasant. There are also a plethora of advanced vocabulary words as well as some wordplay and crossword puzzles, adding to the novelty. Mattie and Olive are best friends, but experience some rocky times as the world around them changes. Many children are in middle school when their parents get divorced, and there are many more novels when a parent dies than there are about parents divorcing. It was good to see that Olive was able to make friends, and that both girls had supportive adults around them.
Weaknesses: I'm not sure I've read many middle grade novels where a parent is discovered to be cheating on a spouse by a child. Since the cover of this is rather young, I wish this had been handled differently. It seemed odd that a 6th grade teacher would assign both Little Women and Treasure Island to 6th graders. Most language arts teachers today try to find more diverse, current titles when at all possible.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a graphic novel about difficult family circumstances, like Knowles Someone's Gonna End Up Crying or Lynch's Reel Life.
Weaknesses: I'm not sure I've read many middle grade novels where a parent is discovered to be cheating on a spouse by a child. Since the cover of this is rather young, I wish this had been handled differently. It seemed odd that a 6th grade teacher would assign both Little Women and Treasure Island to 6th graders. Most language arts teachers today try to find more diverse, current titles when at all possible.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a graphic novel about difficult family circumstances, like Knowles Someone's Gonna End Up Crying or Lynch's Reel Life.
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