All's Faire in Middle School: A Guest Review by my Daughter

Today is a special one here at Daddy Rolled a 1, as my daughter has written a review of a fun graphic novel she received as a Valentine's Day gift. She read it immediately and shortly thereafter while I was walking her to school, we came up with the idea of her writing a review of the book that I could share on my blog.

She's been working on the review for the past few weeks, but got really focused on it as we were forced to work and study from home. She wrote the review in a Google Doc that she sent to me, and I have asked her at least twice to go back and edit things and add more details, as well as make sure to include things like whether she would recommend the book.

Below is her review, which I have reproduced as she wrote it, including any typos and/or grammatical mistakes. My daughter is 10 and in 5th grade, her last year of elementary school, so she was excited to share this story with other kids her age.

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All's Faire in Middle School
Written and Illustrated by: Victoria Jamieson

This book is about
A Girl named Imogene. Who grows up with parents who work at the renaissance fair, She is starting middle school when her mom gives her news that she will have to go to a real school, not be homeschooled, she starts to worry about making friends.

Main Characters
Home: Imogene, Felix, Dad, Mom, Kit, Violet, and Cussie.
School: Imogene, Miko, Emily, Sasha, Jacob, Anita, Dr. MacGregor

Renaissance Fair
The Renaissance Fair is the fair that her parents work at daily and perform shows at weekly, Imogene fights as a squire, and is training to become a night.

K.I.T. (Knight in Training)
Imogene creates a club to help younger kids who love to come to the renaissance Fair how to become a night. She teaches them how to sword fight, defend themselves, and her signature trick, juggling!

Dressing right?
Imogene always worries so much about dressing incorrect, so she goes to the store, buys some new clothes, and tries to impress her friends

Why did I choose this book?
I chose this book because I thought it would be a fun book to read before I go to middle school next year. The art also interested me a lot! The plot of the story was also very well written and told by the pictures and words.

[Note: The above was what my daughter first provided to me. After that, I asked her to read two reviews I'd written about different comics for ComicAttack, and then asked her some specific questions I wanted her to address. The below is the additional information she sent me]

Art
I love the art in this book because of the color the illustrator chose and the way the pictures are drawn. On each page, you will notice how the illustrator really focuses on the characters styles, by focussing on how the hair will look or what the character is wearing every day.

Author
Victoria Jamieson has written 8 books

• All's Faire in Middle School
• The Great Pet Escape
• The Great Art Caper
• Roller Girl
• Pest in Show
• Olympig
• When Stars Are Scattered
• Where Triplets Go, Trouble Follows
• Bea Rocks the Flock
• Spinning

Kid Range

7 and up

Recommendation

I recommend people to read this book if they love graphic novels, art, and if they love middle school, or are preparing to go into middle school. Also if you are into Faire's or Renaissance Faire's. 

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I haven't read the book yet myself, but I have talked with my daughter about it quite extensively, and based on her insights through our conversations, I think it would be a great book for kids, especially girls, who are learning to navigate the complex social structures that happen as they transition from elementary school to middle school, and all of the peer pressure that can happen during that time.

If you're interested in reading this book or getting it as a gift, I highly recommend that you try to order one from your local comic book shop to be shipped to you, or to a friend. These small local shops can use all the help they can get right now, as they struggle to hang out and pay their rent until their shops can open up again and comic book companies start publishing new books again. If you don't know where your closest shop is located, use the Comic Shop Locator and type in your address. Yes, you can order it from Amazon, but paying a couple extra dollars and ordering from a local shop helps so much more.

Thanks, everyone.  I hope you enjoyed the review - drop a comment below to let me know and I can share them with my daughter. She's willing and eager to write more reviews here if people are interested.


Hanging: Home office (laptop)
Drinking: San Pellegrino Sparkling Water
Listening: "Ooo La La" by Faces, from the album "Ooh La La"