Amelia Rules! Volume 7: The Meaning of Life... and Other Stuff

   With one book left in the Amelia Rules! series, I'm sad to say good bye to these fantastic and realistic characters. I wish I had these great graphic novels when I was a kid. Each volume is satisfying and gets better as the series goes on. If you read and enjoyed Raina Telgeimer's Smile, be sure to pick up this series.

Description (from the book's back cover): Amelia McBride may be growing up, but she's feeling down. If there's one theme to her life, it's that nothing lasts: not her parents' marriage, not Aunt Tanner's support, not the clubhouse for the Gathering of Awesome Super Pals (G.A.S.P.), not even her new spot on the stupid cheerleading squad. And while she's learning all kinds of things about foot fungus, cheerwitches, and Reggie--who thinks Rhonda is CUTE?!--there's still one thing Amelia can't figure out, and that's the meaning of life. It takes a grownup sort of tragedy for Amelia and her friends to realize that even when the world is scary, and life is as mystifying as ever, some things--like friendship--do last. In Jimmy Gownley's touching seventh installment of Amelia Rules!, Amelia may not find all the answers--but she does know how to ask the right questions. Who needs answers, anyway?

Review: A good sign of a strong graphic-novel series is that the characters and plot developments grow and never get stale. Amelia is growing up and beginning to take on the bumpy ride through adolescence and middle school. She is about to graduate from elementary school and officially become a preteen. In this seventh volume, precocious Amelia McBride encounters her first major crisis. She feels her time dressing up as Princess Powerful hanging with her superhero friends, G.A.S.P. (the Gathering of Awesome Super Pals) and being a care-free kid slipping away. She is now straddling the line between angst-ridden adolescence and her fading carefree childhood. For the first time in her young life, she realizes that nothing is permanent, and not everything is fair. She finally has come to terms that her parents' marriage has dissolved into divorce and they won't be together as a whole family. Her friend's father is fighting abroad (most likely in Afghanistan), which he may or may not return safely. Her school's principal treats her unjustly and even her beloved rock-star Aunt Tanner, whom she counted on for support, has left her and is now on tour.
  Though the seventh volume is a slender compared to its previous volumes, Gownley does not shy away from tough topics, presenting them in a way that is both approachable and understandable to kids. With all of the tribulations Amelia must deal with, she paints an accurate portrait of what preteens must deal with and how fast they sometimes have to grow up.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 4-6.

If you like this book try: Ariol: Just a Donkey Like You and Me by Emmanuel Guibert, Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce, Her Permanent Record by Jim Gownley

Amelia Rules! Volume 6: True Things Adults Don't Want Kids to Know

  True Things Adult Don't Want Kids to Know is my second favorite Amelia Rules! graphic novel. This volume focuses on the hard transition from a kid to a young adult. In this volume Amelia learns that growing-up isn't very easy. Sometimes promises are broken and sometimes they are kept. Hard work is required in order to achieving your goals. And love...well, love is complicated at any age.

Description (from the Publisher): Meet Amelia Louise McBride. She was forced to move out of Manhattan after her parents decided to get divorced, and is now living in a small town. She’s survived being the new kid, multiple trips to the principal’s office, and even her first kiss. But it remains to be seen if she’ll survive turning eleven!
   The sixth volume starts with a bang: a huge birthday party featuring surprise guests and a special song from Aunt Tanner! It all seems too good to be true, until it turns out . . . it is. Suddenly, Amelia’s friends are fighting all the time. She gets the worst report card of her life. And when she finally musters the guts to tell a certain boy how she feels about him, she brutally learns why it’s called a “crush.” Aunt Tanner would know just what to do—if she were around. But with her new album and maybe a new boyfriend, she doesn’t seem to have time for Amelia anymore.
  There are some tough lessons to learn when you’re eleven, and things may not always turn out as planned. But who says that has to be a bad thing?

Review: In this volume, Amelia McBride has to face some sad goodbyes, some difficult decisions, and her 11th birthday. Luckily she has an amazing cast of friends and family by her side through all the hilarious and heartwarming trials of life. Compared to the other graphic novels in this series, this one is more mature.
  One of the main subplots in this volume involves Amelia's popular and fun Aunt Tanner. Tanner was a rising musician who suddenly stopped making music. When Aunt Tanner writes and sings a special song for Amelia's birthday, her passion for music rekindles. Unfortunately, Tanner also realizes that music companies aren't really interested in her anymore and it breaks her heart. Having faith and confidence in her aunt, Amelia with some help of her techie friends start spreading the news about Tanner and releasing her songs on the Internet. The news and Tanner's popularity spreads and also a music tour is very likely to occur.
  In addition to Tanner's music endeavors  there is also a budding romance between her beloved teacher and her Aunt Tanner, causing her aunt to be a bit absent just when Amelia needs her help in dealing with her own painful and sometime embarrassing first real crush. You can see Amelia's frustration and stress rising as she desperately seeks to get advice from somewhere. Luckily, she lets her aunt and mom know she needs help rather than dealing with her problems on her own.
  Amelia is growing up and it is evident in how she is becoming more self-aware and responsible while still maintaining her tween personality. Amelia is starting to realize that while she can have several people support her, she is ultimately responsible for making her own decisions.  Even her playtime is changing, transitioning from clubhouses and dressing up as superheroes to Truth or Dare and trips to the mall. Gownley gets this transition and it feels natural. The art maintains the simple bright charm of the previous volumes of the graphic-novel series, and the cartoon-style drawings with strong child appeal are a perfect match for the humor and emotion of the story lines. With some parts laugh-out-loud funny and some heart-wrenching, this book has something for everyone.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 4-6

If you like this book try: Ariol: Just a Donkey Like You and Me by Emmanuel Guibert, Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce, Amelia Rules! Her Permanent Record by Jim Gownley

Amelia Rules! When the Past is a Present (Amelia Rules #4)

  Now that the Amelia Rules! series by Jimmy Gownley has completed, I'm working my way to finish the series. I didn't start from the beginning, but skipped around in sequential order. Normally, I would be worried to start a series in any other place than book 1, but I didn't find myself lost or out of the loop with the Amelia Rules series. Today I'll be reviewing the fourth Amelia Rules! graphic novel, When the Past is a Present.

Description: Amelia McBride is going to her first dance (with a boy no less), but she's not the only one with a date. Yikes Is Amelia's mom seeing someone too? Perhaps Reggie (a.k.a. Captain Amazing) can shed some light on the situation. But it's not all fun for the 10-year-old spitfire. A good friend reveals that her father will be sent to a dangerous country with his job in the military, and it gets Amelia thinking about her own family, her past, and what it means for the present.

Review: I love the Amelia Rules! graphic novel series. They are so fun and quick to read. The series can be enjoyed by younger readers as well as adults who can look back at their own adolescence. Gownley does a fine job balancing the sweet light moments such as Amelia having her first crush to the more serious ones in which Amelia is struggling with seeing her mom Mom is dating and having to support her friend when her friend's father, who is in the army, is being deployed. As always, Amelia's spectrum of feelings fill the panels and there is never a lull in the pacing. Of course there are plenty of great laugh-out-loud moments. The narrative of the graphic novel is conversational, as if Amelia has jumped from the pages and is talking to you in person and this style allowed me to instantly connect with her. Though the series's heroine is a girl, I think there are plenty of male characters that boys would enjoy reading about. I'd definitely recommend this series to readers who are fans of Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby and Megan McDonald's Judy Moody series.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is a scene of implied swearing but the word doesn't appear. Recommended for Ages 7 and up.

If you like this book try: Ariol: Just a Donkey Like You and Me by Emmanuel Guibert, Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce, Her Permanent Record by Jim Gownley

Amelia Rules! The Whole World is Crazy and Superheroes

  The Amelia Rules series has been on several graphic novel recommendation lists for libraries and readers. The graphic novel series initially started as a self published piece and was later picked up by publishers as its popularity increased. Gownley announced last year that the series will come to an end. Like many readers, I was sad to hear the news but that only motivates me to read and complete the series.

Description: Meet Amelia Louise McBride. She's nine years old, a former New Yorker who's now living in a small town after her parents decided to get divorced, and dealing with everything from being the new kid in school to getting her first kiss. But you know what? She's got her mom and her aunt Tanner (who happens to be an ex-rock star) and her friends Reggie, Rhonda, and Pajamaman, and everything's going to be okay. Except, of course, when it isn't. In this first book of Amelia's adventures, Amelia and her friends take on bullies (and Santa!), barely survive gym class, and receive a disgustingly detailed explanation of the infamous Sneeze Barf.

Review: Amelia is going to be a third grader. She is also a child of recently divorced parents and has just moved from New York City to a small town, along with her mom and must stay with her mom's younger, hipper sister. This first volume of the series consists of five episodes from her first year, summer through Christmas, trying to figure out her new life with a new family situation and new friends. Gownley mixes realism, pathos, and humor remarkably well and conveys a lot with his Peanuts-ish illustrations.
  I started the Amelia Rules series out of order, which I never do but I was so excited to see this series at my local library that I just picked up whatever they had. I later realized that I was picking up the series midway through. Luckily, my mistake didn't cost my enjoyment of the series and I pretty much inferred what happened to Amelia's family and friends. In this first volume, Amelia deals with serious issues: divorce, moving, discovering new friends, and trying to make sense of her own world.
  I immediately loved all of the characters in this series. Amelia is your typical tween. She is moody, has great snarky lines, self absorbed but under all that bravado she has a good heart. The graphic novel is told from her perspective and almost like a confessional. Throughout the course of her first year at her new, small town she learns about her group of adorkable friends: Rhonda is her friend and sometimes arch-enemy, who has a massive third grade crush on Reggie, the superhero in the making. And then there is the silent but endearing Pajamaman.  
  Another huge plus for me is that the graphic novel series doesn't ignore the adult characters. Amelia's parents and her aunt have a substantial role in the series. They also have their own plot lines which aren't dumbed down for the younger reader. Charming and endearing, Amelia Rules is well worth the read for both girls and boys of all ages. The pace is energetic, the dialogue is humorous without being overly sweet, and Gownley has a keen sense of what life looks like from a kid's point of view. 

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 3 and up.

If you like this book try: Smile by Raina Telegeimer, Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow, Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney


Description: Ten-year-old Amelia is getting used to living in a small town. Sure, it was hard to leave New York after her parents divorced. But now that she's got her friends, she's starting to feel like things just might be okay. That is, until her mom says they might be moving again--across town, to a new school district. Can things get any worse for Amelia? When Amelia meets her new friend Trish and learns about the terrible secret she's hiding, Amelia realizes that sometimes you just have to look adversity in the face and then give it a wedgie on its way out the door.

Review: Though constantly compared to the Peanuts comics, the Amelia Rules delivers more than punchlines and adorable illustrations. I think this series's greatest strength lines in its emotional content. Gownley's portrays situations with all the gravity they have to a tween. While from an adult's point of view it may be piddly, it is a huge deal to a kid. Grownley knows his audience and handles the problems of a younger reader with care.
   Superheroes is the third volume of the Amelia Rules series, and probably the most emotional by far. There are a wide range of emotions explored in this slim volume. Watching Amelia moving away from her friends, coping with a new friend moving away, a bike accident on a scary and dark road, and the projections of what happens to Amelia as she grows up are by turns heartbreaking and hopeful. Gownley balances the dark with the light in equal moments. After finishing the volume, you are comforted knowing that the characters have experienced something that you also went through and that yes, there will be times when life sucks and everything is dark and gloomy but it's only temporary.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 3 and up.

If you like this book try: Smile by Raina Telegeimer, Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow, Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney