Category: Middle School

Growing Pangs (Graphic Novel)

Recommended Audience: Middle School and Up

Opinion: Definitely Recommend!

This is a squeaky clean book that portrays the reality of a young girl with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The book offers opportunities for readers to learn about OCD, see how Katie navigates changing friendships, and more!

I was grasping at straws for advisories on this one: a few incidences of mild crude language (e.g. sucks), a few pop culture references, and a mention of girls being too young to drink an alcoholic beverage.

Details:

The first thought I had after reading this graphic novel is “Tell me she has more books like this one!” It was so wholesome, and 99.9% squeaky clean. I came to find that the author does have a few other books, not all will be suitable for our audiences, but that’s a story for another day.

Regarding this book, I definitely recommend it! The plot is based off of the author’s real-life experiences as a homeschooled Middle Schooler living with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. At first, Katie doesn’t have a diagnosis and doesn’t understand why she feels the need to engage in her compulsions. She refers to her intrusive thoughts as “buzzing” and anthropomorphizes the thoughts as bees swarming around her. It isn’t until the very last bit of the book that the reader learns what these buzzing bees represent. This may be confusing and upsetting for younger readers not familiar with OCD. I would imagine that some young readers might even conjecture that Katie is experiencing whispers from the shayateen. Therefore, I would recommend this book for Middle School or older. If a younger reader wanted to read this book, a guided discussion about OCD would be a sufficient prelude for them to dive in.

As a book reviewer who seeks out books that have very little questionable content that are still relevant and engaging for our youth, I was relieved to find that this book fit the bill. Katie is a wholesome homeschooled girl who attends co-op and church with her family. She loves reading and is excited to be casted into a musical theatre production of Madeline. I can imagine many of the audience reading this may also homeschool, so it is nice to have a book that many of our children will relate to. Katie has to navigate changing friend circles and the jealousies that can come with that. I like how the author relays that many people have their own unique invisible struggles and that Katie is not alone in this way. She has a good relationship with her parents–not one moment of back-talk or disrespect! When Katie finally talks with them about her “buzzing” thoughts, they were supportive and quick to get her the help she needed. While the book ends abruptly with Katie entering a psychologist’s office, the Author’s Note provides clarity and conclusions that the book doesn’t.

Advisories: mile crude language (e.g. suck[s]), occasional pop culture references (Weezer, Harry Potter, *NSync), the girls say they’re “too young” to drink Mint Juleps (alcoholic beverage)

Remarkably Ruby (Graphic Novel)

Recommended Audience: None.

Opinion: Wishing I Could Recommend, But I CAN’T (See Below.)

– There are so many positive messages here about coping with anxiety, repairing friendships, finding where you belong, etc.

– Advisories for recurring scenes of dating and a couple of LGBT+ inferences, among other more minor issues

Details:

I really sat with this book for awhile agonizing over whether or not to put it on my list of “approved” books and ultimately, I had to say no, especially given that the target audience is middle school. The story is a dual perspective between two former friends Mia and Ruby who have grown apart over the years. Ruby feels socially awkward and struggles to fit in with her peers. Mia desperately wants to become class president, inasmuch so that she loses sight of what’s important: her relationships with the people she cares for. Mia and Ruby’s animosity hits a fever pitch culminating in a shoving match at school. Afterwards, they are forced to work together as a punishment and it’s there that they are able to begin to repair their friendship and move in a positive direction.

Look, this book has a lot of positive messages. I feel like middle school readers, especially girls, would relate a lot with the drama and the struggles of either Ruby or Mia, or perhaps a bit of both, as they navigate middle school friendships. I loved how Ruby was able to find her confidence through a newly-formed Poetry Club and that the author was able to work in poetry as a form of self-expression, art, and belonging. I appreciated how Mia was able to reflect on her past behavior and work to repair relationships that she had hurt. The close connections both girls had with their parents, including Ruby’s overly-eager and quirky mom (who amused me quite a bit!) was endearing. I really liked how the illustrator used a unique artistic style when depicting Mia’s narratives versus Ruby’s narratives. The story has quite a few elements of humor too, so I found myself chuckling along as I read.

While there is a lot to be gained here, unfortunately this book contains a few too many elements of questionable content, particularly frequent references to a boyfriend and a couple of LGBT+ inferences, therefore I can’t in good conscience recommend this book. Some families may be okay with allowing their middle schooler to read this book coupled with a guided discussion (which I personally would respect), but as a stand alone without guidance, I can’t recommend it. High school readers may be okay to read this as they have likely already come across these issues before.

Additional Advisories:

  • one mention of a money tree that is supposed to bring “good fortune” (I didn’t think this was meant literally) (p. 6)
  • recurring discussion about Mia’s boyfriend Trevor, including when they first kissed (and that they’ve improved since then) (p. 32-35 and several more)
  • one character, Juan, writes a song that is meant as a simile for his affection for another male peer (p. 227-228), later (p. 242-243) Ruby asks Juan more about this and they have another brief conversation about his male love interest
  • middle school characters being dishonest with parents about where they claimed to be (p. 232)
  • mild language (e.g. stupid, jerk)
  • Ruby’s dad (cartoon) is portrayed in his underwear from the back (p. 204)
  • another mention of kissing someone in the fourth grade (p. 258)