Ow. Reading this brought back very vivid memories of what used to be called junior high. As is usual in collections like this, there were some standout winners (both Ariel Schrag and her sister leap to mind) and some fairly forgettable bits. This is a warts and all evocation of adolescence- be warned. Recommended for comic fans, and people who remember how terrible middle school really was. ( )

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. ( )

This book collects comics by a number of graphic novel artists/authors on the theme of life in the middle school years. School, friendships, family conflicts, identity ... you name it. Everything you'd expect to read about in YA fiction appears in here somewhere.

This book brings back memories. Horrible, horrible middle school memories... ( )

Endearing. Middle-school stories, especially autobiographical ones, tend to fall into one of a few patterns, but this gaggle of writers manages to give us an interesting batch of variations on first love-finding and bully-hating, cuz, y'know, there's more different and complex types and subtypes of 12-year-old than yer average comicbook bildungsroman, or even Degrassi, teaches is. Also, the grossouty caricature style that is so popular in independent comics is not so much in evidence, which is a relief given how gross and greasy teenagers are. ( )