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Reviewed by: Anna Bayerl, Junior High School Librarian Title: Just Roll With It Author: Veronica Agarwal, Lee Durfey-Lavoie Publisher: RH Graphic
Year: 2021 Good for Grades: 4-8 Genre/Type of Book: Graphic Novel
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Diverse characters, including a lesbian sibling Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: It is a graphic novel depicting a young person with a different ability. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: A great story depicting the superhero in all of us.
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Review:
It is Maggie's first year in middle school (grade 6) and despite her initial anxiety on the first day, she makes her first friend, who would eventually become her best friend. Maggie is from a loving family that is diverse in several ways, with older siblings, including sisters with whom she is very close. Maggie exhibits unusual behaviors early in the book. Wherever she goes she rolls a die with twenty sides to make her decisions (roll the die and if the number is low then the answer is negative, roll high and the answer is yes). Should she talk to the girl next to her? Roll the die and find out. When she arrives home from school she taps the door to her house with her finger four times saying, "hello house." Pressure she feels comes from her desire to be as academically successful as her older siblings, trying to "control the dragon" by using her unusual behaviors, choosing between a club that would be fun and one that would be academic, and dealing with the bullies. With the help of her friend, Clara, and her family she discovers more about herself and finds success in being herself. Like the Raina Telgemeier books, Just Roll With It has characters and situations that middle school students may easily relate to. At first I thought the book might be too long for a graphic novel, 318 pages+, but there is not a great deal of dialogue, something I might point out to students who are hesitant about its length. Most of the characters were very kind and caring (except for the school bullies) which makes this title good for students in younger grades as well. I wondered at one point if the characters were too good to be true? Maggies family and friends were so supportive that I would wish all students had such people in their lives. When one of the bullies pushes Clara, Maggie does not hesitate to jump in and defend her. It was a great way to show students how to be an upstander and not a bystander. At some points I was confused about some of the panels and what they were depicting, especially those about the RPG (Role Playing Game) Club, but that may have been my own ignorance about RPG. Originally, I was going to recommend this title for our ELA 8 diversity unit, and though I will still do so, I also intend to suggest to ELA 7 teachers that they designate one of their BOTM (book of the month) assignments to books focusing on differing abilities.
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For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
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