Friends with Boys (utgåvan 2012)

I discovered Friends With Boys online one day, shortly after Faith Erin Hicks started posting the pages to her website in webcomic form as a promotion for the upcoming print release. It quickly became one of my favourite comics, and I made sure to pre-order the print copy, knowing I wanted to have it in my personal library (particularly since knowing that after the end of February 2012 only the first sixteen pages of the book would be available for viewing online).

The print version is lovely. It is more or less trade paper size, so it sits very nicely in hand, and I love the cover flap detailing that creates the sense of it having a dust jacket. My only real complaint is a minor one: as with many, many other graphic novels, Friends With Boys has a few points where the edges of some of the panels get a bit lost in the spine of the book. It comes with the nature of the print medium, and there really is not any way to "fix" it and maintain the integrity of the art.

Bottom line: If you enjoy fun characters and slice-of-life type stories (with or without supernatural twists) definitely check this comic out. ( )

I really liked the style and the characters, but there were some issues. There is a ghost involved in the story, but it's such a minor thing that I don't know why it's in there at all. I would have liked the story better if that was left out since it literally had no relevance to the rest of the story. I really would have liked to see more of the brothers and have their issues fleshed out a little more. I really enjoyed the book, though, and would love to have more! ( )

Summary: Maggie's been homeschooled her entire life, but on the first day of ninth grade, she's going to high school - just like each of her three older brothers did before her. High school's tough enough to navigate for anyone, but for someone like Maggie - who has never really been around kids other than her brothers - it's pretty overwhelming. Her brothers are technically there to look out for her, but they've got lives and friends and activities of their own, leaving Maggie to make friends - and navigate the treacherous waters of teenaged social life - more or less on her own. Oh, and also, Maggie's haunted by a ghost from the local graveyard.

Review: The cover copy of this book makes it out like the haunting is a major part of the story, so I was expecting something along the lines of Anya's Ghost. But as it turns out, the ghost is probably the least-important element of the story, and I would not have missed it had it been cut. The heart of the book, for me, was the wonderful, wonderful characterization. Maggie, her three brothers, her new friend Lucy and her brother Alastair, all feel like real people, and are all immensely likeable. The story itself is somewhere between a coming-of-age story and a slice-of-life of Maggie's first year of school, but it's thoroughly charming, and I found myself just wanting to hang out and spend more time with Maggie and her family. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: It's similar in a lot of ways to Raina Telgemeier's Drama, and well worth a read for anyone who likes charming coming-of-age stories with sweet but realistic sibling dynamics. ( )

Follow Maggie as she goes from being homeschooled to starting her first day in a public high school. Oh, and to make things even harder, she is haunted by a ghost from the local cemetery. Maggie's family is great, the art work is well done and it's a very enjoyable book. ( )

This book has a decent story and I really enjoyed the art.

I think the "Education of Maggie McKay" (a discarded potential title the artist considered) would have been a better title because this book is about the protagonist's adjustment from home-schooling to public school and her education about other people and her own family. ( )