Curlfriends: New in Town
by Sharee Miller
Graphic novel
Realistic Fiction
Tween
* * * Stars (Pretty good)
Charlie has lived all over the world as a military brat, but now that her dad is changing careers, the family has settled down in the same town where her folks grew up, and Charlie is looking forward to starting over at her new middle school. She studies fashion magazines for ideas and puts together a new look for herself, and tries to hide all of the things about herself that she thinks other kids won’t like or be accepting of. It’s a faulty strategy that just introduces more awkwardness and anxiety into her life. Charlie is so scared of being rejected that she doesn’t even give her new friends a chance to like her for who she is. This all becomes too much for her in the end and she comes clean about her insecurities as well as her passions, and hey, her girls totally accept her just as she is. Fitting in is a common concern in the middle school novel, and this doesn’t really take it in any new directions. Still, it’s comforting and empowering to see Charlie embrace her unique qualities and find acceptance and affirmation among her classmates. For grades 4-7.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
