Emmie & Friends: Adventures in Middle School

One of the best things to have happened with books in the last decade has been the increase in published graphic novels and their status as "real books." Once limited to the comic book genre, the publication and critical acclaim of Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese (2006) cracked the door. The popularity of Raina Telgemeier's graphic novels signaled a new wave, particularly for the middle grades.

I started to really invest in these books when I tried to stock my classroom library for my middle school students. Varied in their interests, reading levels, and reading desires, I wanted to find something to appeal to every single one of them. Graphic novels were my carrot, particularly for the boys who really struggled to engage with independent reading.

Of the new crop of graphic novels for younger readers, here are some of the characteristics I've noticed:

1. They feature characters who are in middle school.
2. They're often part of a series.
3. They centralize the stories of female characters, primarily.

The serial nature of these books and focus on middle school grades are strengths. However, as I tried to find books to appeal to a lot of students, two major problems became apparent:

1. There aren't enough of these books to meet demand.
2. There isn't enough diversity--in representation, topics, and authors.

This lack of representation is why I was thrilled when Craft's New Kid (2019), the 2020 Newbery Medal winner featuring a black boy, came out. The story, subject matter, and illustrations are fantastic! New Kid, however, is not the focus of my post, though I love it! No, my spotlight is on Terri Libenson's "Emmie and Friends" series, made up of four titles, the last of which is slated for release in May 2020.

• Invisible Emmie (2017)
• Positively Izzy (2018)
• Just Jaime (2019)
• Becoming Brianna (2020)

I particularly love this series because each book is really two stories in one, a pleasant twist I discovered at the end of Invisible Emmie. This element of surprise is consistent across the other texts, but in a different way each time. I appreciate the creativity and thoughtfulness that Libenson brings to this series, particularly because of Just Jaime, which centers around a character of color despite the author not being "of color" herself. The source of the conflict of that particular story is relatable to every middle schooler, even though the main character is of a race different from the characters featured in the previous stories. More authors should aim to do so--or really, more books featuring diverse characters and written by diverse authors need to be published. 

Despite not being the intended audience, I very much look forward to each of Libenson's titles and have consumed them with relish. They're truly wonderful.