Kyle’s Little Sister

Grace, a quiet girl who likes gaming, is starting middle school and will be in the same school as her older brother, Kyle, a popular, athletic, and outgoing boy. Grace has lived in her brother’s shadow before, and she doesn’t like how it feels. She will be “Kyle’s little sister” again, and everyone will wonder why she isn’t as good at everything as he is. To make things worse, Grace has a falling out with her two friends, Jay and Amy. While sitting alone at lunch, Cam, a popular but mean girl, disses Amy and befriends Grace. Grace is surprised, but likes having a popular friend. Cam asks a lot of questions about Kyle, and Grace wonders if she has more of an agenda than just being friends. There is no drama like middle-school drama, and this book is filled with it.

Author and illustrator BonHyung Jeong seems to have a perfect understanding of both sibling rivalry and middle-school drama. His characters are very realistic in their actions toward and reactions to the other kids in school and to friends and siblings outside of school. Kids will like this nicely illustrated graphic novel. It is great for reluctant readers.