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
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
Labels:
4 stars,
Amelia Rules series,
Childrens,
Divorce,
Friendship,
Graphic Novel,
Humor,
Philosophy,
Realistic Fiction
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I haven't read your reviews of the other books in this series. It sounds like a great series. I think it's even harder to get the voice and story of elementary and pre-teen children than it is a middle grade or young adult voice. I wish I had time to read this series, I'll mark it on Goodreads. One day, I'll read it. Thanks for the review.
Heather
Oh I have some little cousins that will be of age for these in a few years. I really need to remember them so I can recommend it to their parents. I think you are right, a good series never grows stale!