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quietjenn's review against another edition
4.0
less uneven than a lot of anthologies end up being, although there were still a few i felt pretty "meh" about. overall though, solid and truthful account of a time in life that still make even the most jaded OR well-adjusted of us squirm. and, a great mix of known names and new people worth discovering.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
4.0
Funny, touching, true stories of being in middle school or just being a teen in general. Stories about being bullied, about putting up with cliques, being a nerd, being an outsider, etc. A variety of authors and artists so the styles vary a lot; if you don't like a story you can skip to the next. Made me remember a lot about middle school I wish I could forget!
lauralynnwalsh's review against another edition
2.0
This book has some good cartoons, but a lot more not so good ones. I know these cartoonists are supposed to be accomplished and distinguished, but I didn't find the art work that compelling, for the most part.
Yes, there were some all too real scenes from middle school years, most of which are painful, and only funny from a long distance.
Yes, there were some all too real scenes from middle school years, most of which are painful, and only funny from a long distance.
margaretann84's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the comics in the collection were brilliant ("A Relationship in Eight Pages" springs to mind), while others were mediocre or just plain awful. The amazing ones don't quite make up for the bad ones, but on the whole, it's a reasonably readable collection. I wouldn't recommend it to middle schoolers, really, but I wouldn't talk them out of reading it if they wanted to. Mostly meh.
3/5 on here, 6/10 for myself
3/5 on here, 6/10 for myself
abbeyjfox's review against another edition
3.0
kinda boring.
but the cole johnson comic was effing brilliant, and i need to read more of her work. and daniel clowes illustrations always ruuule.
but the cole johnson comic was effing brilliant, and i need to read more of her work. and daniel clowes illustrations always ruuule.
mitchelfacereads's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of depressing. I think I related too much to the stories. Which is great for middle schoolers to read. Everyone needs to know they are not alone, especially during those middle school years.
turboshot49cents's review against another edition
2.0
Anthologies are a little hard to rate because different authors have different qualities. But I was not impressed with a lot of these comics. The writing is mostly OK. Not terrible, but also doesn't really resonate with me. And sadly a lot of the illustrations look really stiff. Again, the level of writing and art varies from cartoonist to cartoonist, but very few of these stories are great in both.
library_brandy's review
3.0
Fun enough but nothing extraordinary, possibly because there are only a couple of the 16 creators that I actively like, and the rest I'm somewhat indifferent to. The stories don't seem as universal as I'd hoped when I bought it for the library collection, but instead most have a distinct late-80s-early-90s flair. Maybe the problems are universal--having the right clothes, the right hairstyles--but it's hard to identify with someone who wanted nothing more than skinny jeans and prairie blouses.
princessnomi's review
2.0
This book was pretty good it was just hard reminding me of my hard time in middle school. For this reason I would recommend it to someone struggling in middle school or even high school.
For me it just brought back bad memories.
For me it just brought back bad memories.
sonshinelibrarian's review
3.0
I liked some of these more than others. I liked that there was a pretty wide variety of individual experiences (not all of them was horrific or horrible), but it was very similar in other ways. It wasn't very diverse when it came to ethnicity at all and there wasn't a whole lot of economic diversity either. Which, for me, made each story feel pretty similar in a weird way.