Pizza FaceReview posted October 8, 2024.
Graphix (Scholastic), 2024. 222 pages.
Review written October 3, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
I continue to maintain that graphic novels are the absolutely perfect format for middle school memoirs - the perfect way to express the angst we all went through.
In this follow up to Four Eyes, the morning Rex starts seventh grade, a giant pimple erupts in the center of his forehead - the first of many. So yeah, this is a graphic novel about a boy beginning to go through puberty, and feeling behind everyone else - he was only twelve in seventh grade, but his friends were all thirteen or turning thirteen. So he was the smallest, had the least hair, and had the highest voice.
And then come the bullies, the misunderstandings with friends, the saying something to try to be cool that hurts a friend's feelings - and we've got a classic story of middle school angst.
There's plenty of nuance going on here, such as becoming friends with the biggest kid in seventh grade, who starts out pushing Rex around, but ends up confessing he feels out of place, too. And gaining some insight about another bully when they're both on in-school suspension.
This story captures the despair and hope of middle school, and does it with humor and compassion.