Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--8--Ty is a middle school athlete who has been sidelined from the swim team by a broken arm. He begins to doubt himself, as his weight gain and time away from the pool will alter his role on the team, and his anxiety begins to affect his friendship with his fellow swimmer and best friend Max. Attending summer camp together tests their friendship as Ty struggles with his mental health and deals with the consequences of pushing Max away. The need to acknowledge when one needs help is addressed; however, a late-story romance takes the focus away from an otherwise strong story about friendship. Ty and his family are Latinx, and the book showcases a welcome mix of skin tones and body shapes among his classmates. This is the second graphic novel from Durfey-Lavoie and Agarwal in the "Just Roll with It" universe. This duo takes mental health very seriously and have crafted a poignant coming-of-age story with visual clues about drowning in emotions. The anime and chibi-style illustration will appeal to a young audience. This story can stand alone, but will appeal to youth who enjoyed Just Roll with It and Raina Telgemeier's Guts. VERDICT This graphic novel about anxiety, body image, and queerness is a recommended purchase for middle school library shelves.--Nancy McKay
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Review by Horn Book Review
At the start of this graphic novel, swimmer Tyler "Shark Fin" de Lugo has just gotten his cast off after a broken arm. It seems like perfect timing, with sleepaway camp about to begin. But Ty's best friend, swim teammate, and camp bunkmate Max has been acting distant, angry, and strange, and Ty's negative self-talk -- in both the first-person ("I got fat. I'm not good enough anymore. I'm useless as a friend, useless to the team") and dialogue ("Was he making fun of me? I must look like garbage right now." "Of course he was making fun of you...idiot") -- is preventing him from getting back in the water. In fact, when Ty is feeling low, the graphic-panel art often shows him imagining being nearly drowned. Durfey-Lavoie and Agarwal (Just Roll with It, rev. 9/21) present another sympathetic and flawed protagonist whose experiences and interactions are understandable and affecting. A few helpful adults at the camp, including a former high school football star turned chill-dude counselor, give Ty some strategies and messaging for countering his insecurities and moving forward. Easy-to-follow panel art in subdued hues helps set the summer-camp scene, reflecting challenges that are cooperative both physically (e.g., building a boat) and emotionally (opening up to a friend -- and maybe more) along with individual growth and acceptance. Elissa GershowitzJuly/August 2024 p.123 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Camp was going to be amazing for Tyler de Lugo and his best friends, Max and Heather Allen, in this stand-alone follow-up to Just Roll With It (2021). But then Ty broke his arm and missed an entire season as captain of the swim team. Afterward, Ty ghosted the siblings, so their arrival at Silver Falls is fraught with hurt feelings. Ty, who has brown skin and wavy black hair, can't bring himself to go in the water, let alone participate in a swimming competition. Yet camp also brings Ty a new group of friends and advice from a quirky counselor. He hunts for bugs and develops an interest in tabletop role-playing games. Ty, along with Max and Heather, who have light skin and red hair, take on the challenge of building a canoe from scratch. All these experiences buoy him as he feels like he's drowning, but Max's forgiveness is still in question--and so are the feelings of Ty's secret crush. Agarwal's loose designs and casual, sketchy, bright style express both poignancy and humor, and her characters' facial expressions are adorable. Ty's overwhelming feelings of depression are shown by waves washing over him and blurred text in speech bubbles. After his injury and subsequent weight gain, Ty's self-loathing is clearly evident, but readers may be left wanting a stronger impression of who he is outside of his struggles. Earnest summertime adventures and lessons on self-love. (Graphic fiction. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
