wintermote's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
School stories aren’t my favorite type of story, but read this because it was a Newbery winner. I’m glad I read it. This is a good one to open the conversation on a variety of important topics relating to race, opportunities, friendship and much much more.
librarylisa614's review against another edition
4.0
Ella and I both enjoyed this read. The illustrations are fun and it hits some hard topics without being too heavy-handed.
winona_reads3's review against another edition
4.0
i think quite a lot of people need to read this...it’s more than just private school setting related
marit111's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lonelysatellite's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
juanitamfm's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a super quick graphic novel read. I had heard it would be a good book to read with my students so I read it and it was great. I’m always amazed how authors can tell a complete story with mostly pictures and a new dialogue bubbles! I’m going to also see about the second book!
mdpbernal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
sandraagee's review against another edition
4.0
With all of the hype this book has gotten, I think my expectations were a little too high. It's really good and everything, but my brain didn't explode. I think some of my lukewarm reaction has to do with the fact that topics of race and microaggressions are popping up a lot in children's book's lately, and while it's important and necessary and I'm super glad that these conversations are happening, I also feel like I've heard a version of this story before. You know. Black kid goes to a prestigious private school and struggles to fit in. It's been done.
That said, it's notable that this trope is tackled with a boy as the main character when it's usually a girl. Besides that, I can't think of other graphic novels that really tackle the topics of contemporary race and microaggressions for this age group, and it might be the only graphic novel I can think of that features a main character who's a non-superhero, non-sidekick black boy. So this book is filling in a gap nicely, and doing it well.
The writing is really good. The characters are interesting and it's easy to get pulled into the story. The plot is super episodic (pros and cons there), and I loveloveloved the chapter titles and illustrations based on books, movies, and TV.
That said, it's notable that this trope is tackled with a boy as the main character when it's usually a girl. Besides that, I can't think of other graphic novels that really tackle the topics of contemporary race and microaggressions for this age group, and it might be the only graphic novel I can think of that features a main character who's a non-superhero, non-sidekick black boy. So this book is filling in a gap nicely, and doing it well.
The writing is really good. The characters are interesting and it's easy to get pulled into the story. The plot is super episodic (pros and cons there), and I loveloveloved the chapter titles and illustrations based on books, movies, and TV.