Apple CrushReview posted August 1, 2024.
RH Graphic, 2022. 202 pages.
Review written June 16, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review
Graphic novels are the perfect format for middle school contemporary stories. Picturing all the roller coaster emotions of middle school helps show the humor and humanity in them.
Apple Crush is a sequel to Stepping Stones, though it's easy to catch up if you haven't read the first book.
Jen from the city is still adjusting to life on the farm, as she and her mother are living on a farm with her mother's boyfriend -- and his daughter, who's Jen's age, and is there on the weekends.
In this book, Autumn is coming and they're helping with the Haunted Hayride and Pumpkin Festival at a neighboring farm. And Jen has to start a new school, far from the city and her old friends.
Much to Jen's annoyance, it seems everyone around her is falling in love. And they tease her about the one friend she makes who loves the same series of books about dragons -- but Jen insists they're just friends, and it's not about romance.
And that all sounds simple when summarized, but the execution is delightful. We've got Autumn on a farm. And love is in the air, whether Jen likes it or not.