Day: January 23, 2024

Graphic novel sequel to Go With the Flow. About four friends in high school. This book picks up right where the other one left off- Brit is recovering from a procedure that addressed her painful cycles- if you haven’t read the first book this might throw you off, but the friends quip in with enough questions that you’re filled in quick enough. (Brit’s explanations do feel like a bit of an info dump at times, though). Abby (the redhead) continues to advocate for the school providing products that girls (and trans guys- this book is very gender inclusive) need during that time of the month, and making people aware that it’s a normal thing to deal with, trying to lessen the stigma around menstruation, etc. But most of the book is about other everyday stuff, with growing up, navigating friendships and first crushes, and school life. Brit has to deal with two guys in lit class that pay too much attention to her- one is smoothly flirtatious but often wants to copy her work or get hints on test questions- and the other guy obviously resents that. Sasha is very self-conscious (being small, slender, and flat) but has a great guy for her first boyfriend, only they spend so much time together her grades start to suffer and she has to scramble to make up some work. Her friends help her learn strategies to deal with that. Christine (the tall, lanky tomboy) admits that she likes Abby as more than just a friend, but she’s afraid to come out to the group as lesbian, much less risk her friendship with Abby by confessing how she feels. She finally goes to the school LGBTQ+ club and is surprised who she finds there. So they all have their ups and downs and troubles- with parents, homework, guys, other kids in general- but support each other solidly through all the rough moments. Nice book with great positive messages, even if it did feel a bit over-the-top with the explanations a few times, and a bit awkward with scene switches at others (sometimes I wasn’t quite sure what happened between panels). And I’m still not keen on the art style, but the story was good enough to keep me interested.

Perfect kind of reading for my recovery (still working on that). Funny though, my husband saw this book on the bed and said “what’s that book, it doesn’t look like your usual reading material?” I guess he’s never really noticed that I do sometimes read juvenile fiction, graphic novels, even picture books and light silly stuff at times. Maybe he thinks I’m only into the serious novels, classics, nature writing and science . . . I mentioned I’d borrowed it from my younger one and he nodded “Oh, that makes sense” (ha).

Borrowed from the public library (off my kid’s stack).