All's Faire in Middle School (urspr publ 2017; utgåvan 2017)

3.5 stars - beautifully illustrated, an enjoyable read and touches on something we don't see that much in kids books - the Renaissance Faire. However, I did find the messaging a bit heavy handed in spots and many of the tropes of the middle school experience are starting to get a bit repetitive. I feel like we've seen big chunks of this story before. That said - it's still a solid follow-up to Roller Girl. ( )

Imogene a.k.a. Impy, embarks on two big milestones in her life, becoming a squire at the renaissance faire where her family works and attending middle-school after previously being home schooled. However, problems at school lead to problems at the faire and at home, too.

I loved Impy, in her good moments and the bad, I felt for her throughout, whether attempting to dress like the cool rich girl with much more expensive tastes than Impy could afford or when things went wrong between her and her sibling. I liked how imperfect Impy is and how realistically paced her growth seemed, everything felt like it happened gradually like it would in life, her increasing anxiety over fitting in at school, how that leads to mistakes and lashing out, all of it had an authentic relatable quality to it. ( )

This was a great book! The illustrations were awesome and the story was just as good! Imogene was homeschooled but decided to go to middle school. Her and her family work at the Ren Faire and its a great contrast between her acting in the fair and her trials and tribulations in school (ones we all had to deal with... shudder). All in all a great read and highly recommended from school age and up. ( )

It's your usual "trying to figure out this middle school thing" story with extra renfaire fun. All in all, it's a good time. ( )

Reseña en español: http://boisde-merveilles.blogspot.mx/2017/12/alls-faire-in-middle-school-victori...

I really loved this graphic novel, it has cute drawings, it’s fast paced and hard to put down.

I think this novel reflects perfectly what it’s like to be in middle school, this transition between being a kid and an adolescent, this absurd need to fit in and fear to be alone with no friends, or weird, or an outcast. Middle school was definitely not kind with me, I had to choose between be true to myself or to fit in, and I decided to be true to myself, and I think that it was my best choice, not only because I learnt more about me, but because I could find friends who really liked me for who I was.

In this novel, Imogene passes from being homeschooled to attend public school, and she has to make the same choice I did on my middle school time, to be herself or to try to fit in. She opts for trying to fit in to avoid being an outcast and bullied, but this brings consequences to her. She passes through hardships she has to endure and has to try to mend her mistakes, the typical mistakes any middle schooler can make. She has to decide who she wants to be in her story, the heroine or the dragon.

This novel has lovely and relatable characters, a simple but realistic story, and is a light read, perfect for a reading block; I read this in one evening. This story is perfect for kids who are going through this transition of growing up, like my young brother, sadly, he doesn’t’ speak English. I highly recommend it. ( )