Reviews

Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall by Gillian Goerz

librarydancer's review against another edition

Graphic Novel.

This was a DNF. I was 43 pages into the book without knowing what it was going to be about. The illustrations and diversity is nice.

zabcia's review against another edition

4.0

86%

"Do all of your reading with an open heart and a detective's discerning eye."

Another banger from Shirley and Jamila. Looking forward to a third installment!

books_inthewild's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent story!
Great story about friendship, bullies, middle school power struggles, peer pressure, etc etc!

I loved how this story tackled the idea that you CAN have more than one great friend, and they don’t need to necessarily be friends with each other or like the same things!

I also liked how it tackled shoplifting and some other peer pressure/temptations that middle grade students might encounter.

Great illustrations, great characters, and overall very engaging story.

bookph1le's review against another edition

4.0

Another winner of an installment. I like the contrast in these books between Jamila struggling with normal issues for a kid her age while Shirley comes across is much older than her years. I thought this book did a good job of portraying Jamila's discomfort as she struggled to defend both Shirley and her friendship with Shirley. I also very much appreciated that Shirley has a surprise up her sleeve that helps Jamila and others see the perils of trusting your misconceptions about others. There was some dodgy behavior on the girls' part that I think would have been worth grappling with a bit more; it seemed a little too easy for them to justify it in the end. Still, I very much enjoyed this, love these characters, and hope there's more to come.

hellocookie's review against another edition

5.0

A delightful follow-up to the first graphic novel in this series. I deliberately use the word “follow-up” rather than sequel since this is totally standalone (as is the first) and require any additional context to enjoy. The characters are engaging and relatable and I loved that the stakes rose in this story, revolving around privilege, bullying, and more. Goerz is excellent at adding in other subtle details exploring deeper themes and messages. Young readers will definitely enjoy this book and series, especially if they enjoy a good mystery to unravel.

jkenna1990's review against another edition

5.0

This was such a great graphic novel! We follow Jamila and Shirley as they navigate school, new friendships, and after school activities. Jamila is getting more into basketball, and even joins an after school league. There she meets a new girl, Seena, and the two become fast friends. Shirley is a detective that is currently helping her client, Eva, because another student, Chuck, is blackmailing her and demanding four hundred dollars or else. Shirley and Jamila devise a plan to break into Chuck's house and steal all of the blackmail information that he has on Eva and the other kids at their school. Will they be able to pull of their plan? Or will the two get caught and get in trouble? You'll have to read this to find out!

I really liked this graphic novel. I thought that it brought up a lot of great discussions about friendships and how you can be friends with lots of different people. I also thought that it addressed bullying and how you can handle it very nicely as well.

annieice's review against another edition

4.0

Accidentally read the second one without having read the first one but oh well. The art and character design was cool and pretty, I liked the story and the resolution. Am pretty happy with it. Shirley is Sherlock right? Jamilah is Dr. Watson? 

hidingzeus's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoy this series.

morganmalloy's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

fionak's review against another edition

4.0

Starts out awkwardly but proves as good as the first once it gets going.