Middle Grade Monday: Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley.

Image: Simon & Schuster

Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley. 320 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, November, 2023. 9781534496545. (Review of finished, purchased copy.) 

Happy Monday! It is the final Monday of the 2023- 2024 school year and we have a heat wave this week in the northeast. Middle Grade Monday features Duel by Jessixa Bagley and illustrated by Aaron Bagley. 

Siblings fight, but sisters, Gigi and Lucy's bickering is next-level and about to get worse. Gigi is a popular eighth grader. She's also a good student and star fencer. In fact, she will probably be named captain this year. Lucy is entering sixth grade and terrified of not fitting in and being as good as her sister. When Gigi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the very first day of school in front of the entire school, she grabs Gigi's foil from her fencing bag and challenges her to a duel. Both girls end up in the principal's office and their over-worked, stressed out mother manages to talk the principal out of suspending them, but she's done. Now that the gauntlet has been thrown on multiple levels, Gigi and Lucy are committed to their duel and the entire school is taking sides and bets.

This sibling rivalry story is unique. Each chapter opens with a page from a fencing guidebook, the significance of which, I will not spoil. The full-color art is expressive, with flashback action presented in blue tones for contrast. This graphic novel will have wide appeal. I loved it. Stay cool and happy reading!