Arc Review: All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson

All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson. 248 p. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Young Readers Group, September 5, 2017. 9780525429999. (Review from arc courtesy of publisher.)

Twelve-year-old Imogene (Impy) grew up with the actors at a weekend Renaissance Fair as her extended family. She has been homeschooled all her life, but has decided to try middle school. Her family does not have a lot of money; they live in a rundown apartment complex but they are close-knit. She isn't aware of all the latest trends and fashion. She frankly doesn't care. She's very psyched to be promoted to role-playing a squire at the fair. She's realistically anxious about starting middle school. 

While she is befriended rather quickly by a trio of girls, led by mean-girl Mika, she notes the hierarchy. She is relieved to be asked by Mika to sit with her at lunch but she's a bit cowed by everything and unwilling to share her Ren-fair life with the kids at school.

As she did in her debut, Newbery Honor-winning graphic novel, Roller Girl, Jamieson nails tween life in all its gloriously weird permutations. Impy is EveryGirl but wholly unique in that she's immersed in the world of the Renaissance and role-playing. Her family is loving and supportive even though her little brother drives her crazy. 

She loses herself a bit in her efforts to navigate the shifting landscape and things come crashing down on her in a realistic way. The problems are also resolved slowly and realistically.

Not all the art was finished in the arc, but what was there is energetic and colorful, with a variety of panel sizes. Each chapter is decorated as an illuminated manuscript reminding readers how immersed in all things Renaissance Impy is, how important it is in her life and how it helps her navigate the "real" world. Even though this was the arc, the page stock was nice and heavy. 

I cannot wait to see the finished book come September and have ordered multiple copies for Jamieson's many fans. My three copies of Roller Girl do not spend much time on the shelf and I anticipate that All's Faire in Middle School won't either. I am so thrilled to have another graphic novel with a female main character. What I really loved about checking out Roller Girl since it pubbed is that it is equally loved by boys as well as girls. I anticipate the same with All's Faire in Middle School. I also anticipate a spiked interest in Renaissance Fairs. I think I might check out our local one that runs in the fall and found myself feeling a bit nostalgic about Medieval Times. I might check that out again.

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh

307 p. Sourcebooks/ Jabberwocky, April 2, 2013. 9781402281068. (Purchased)

Eleven-year-old Ratchet, decides to start a brand new notebook to start a new school year. Of homeschooling. She has never been to school and she kind of wonders what she's missing, especially in the friend department. It has just been Ratchet, well, Rachel and her dad since her mom died. Since her dad likes to move into junky houses and rehab them instead of paying rent, they move a lot. It's just easier to homeschool than to continually change schools.

And, yeah, even though Ratchet's dad supposedly checks her work, she's really on her own to do it and finds that she's interrupted most days when her dad needs help repairing cars anyway. She's his right-hand gal, hence the nickname. 

Each journal entry is a writing response to an assignment in her homeschooling kit. There are quick-writes, poems, dialogues, essays, and life events journal entries, among other forms. Through these we get glimpses of Ratchet's lonely life and her attempts at making a friend.

Ratchet is the first to admit that her environmental-activist father is a bit of a nut-job. He's always embarrassing her by attending city council meetings to suggest ways of saving the environment. He insists on recycling everything, which means that Ratchet never has new clothes. She shops at thrift stores but would so love to have something new to wear. He also steadfastly refuses to discuss her mother with her. But, he's her "important person" and really, without a mother, where would she be without him?

Ratchet found a place in my heart pretty quickly. Her voice is engaging and sincere. She's bright and mechanically inclined, open-minded and observant. She just aches for a friend and to somehow fill the spot where her mother used to be. The structure of her journal is unique, allowing for the glimpses into her life to come together in a satisfying way. The cover is appealing. The notebook style will appeal to fans of that format, but though there is humor, they will find depth as Ratchet asserts herself.

This is a lovely debut.