Graphic memoir dealing with divorce, friendships, and find your voice through storytelling. ( )

I feel bad for hating this book because it was based on someone's life but it was just boring. The ending was a bit anticlimactic and the pacing was odd and jumped around a lot. ( )

Travel through middle school with Tori as she recants her memories of 7th and 8th grade. This is a character driven story of tough points inlife. Sometimes it a moody teenage brother named Ryan or his twin sister the dancing phenom. Sometimes it’s mom and dad fighting, and dad forgetting his weekly dinners. This story is mostly a set of vignettes, broken up by pieces of the book written within the pages of this book. To be honest, I kept waiting for something to happen between these pages, but this isn’t the type of story where things happen and the ending is wrapped up and presented in a bow. In fact I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. But then again it mirrors life. I did really like how the author talked at the end about how remembering things later in life gives you a new perspective, and that is what this feels like… an adult remembering standout moments in their childhood for better and for worse. ( )

The narrative felt messy always jumping to another topic or important life point. Maybe the transitions could have been more organized? I was waiting to see more about her older brother Ryan, but it never came. But I'd think it's very difficult to compile moments from your life into a cohesive narrative if nothing life-changing (according to the general audience) happened.

Still, I liked the story, and the adorable illustrations. There's a mini story-inside-a-story that's also cute as well. ( )