Fans of Real Friends and Be Prepared will love this energetic, affecting graphic memoir, in which a young girl uses her active imagination to navigate middle school as well as the fallout from her parents' divorce. Tori has never lived in just one world. Since her parents' divorce, she's lived in both her mom's house and her dad's new apartment. And in both places, no matter how hard she tries, her family still treats her like a little kid. Then there's school, where friendships old and new are starting to feel more and more out of her hands. Thankfully, she has books-and writing. And now the stories she makes up in her head just might save her when everything else around her—friendships, school, family—is falling apart. Author Tori Sharp takes us with her on a journey through the many commonplace but complex issues of fractured families, as well as the beautiful fantasy narrative that helps her cope, gorgeously illustrated and full of magic, fairies, witches and lost and found friendships.
Reviews with the most likes.
I liked but didn't love this. I'm putting it on my Raina Telgemeier readalike list because I think it will appeal to those readers even if they find it a little lacking in depth.
Some of the transitions felt a little rushed or unclear to me. Maybe a blank page or some sort of notation to show the passage of time would have been helpful. I also felt like I kept confusing some of the characters because they looked really similar. And some I just missed altogether! (Who is Beth? Her mom's girlfriend/wife? A babysitter? Unclear.)
Overall, I think older elementary and younger middle school kids will enjoy this.