Kyle's Little Sister by BonHyung Jeong
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Web ID: 165288574 reviews
Good Read :-)
Very cute. The story felt a little loose, but it was definitely an authentic representation of middle school life and social insecurity. I really liked Grace, even when her actions weren’t inline with her values. She got it right in the end.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great story!
I loved this graphic novel - and I could so relate to Grace, as I am a younger sister myself. Grace looks up to her brother, Kyle, but at the same time, she feels that she is constantly in his shadow - he is outgoing, popular, athletic, all the things that Grace, who is introverted and into video games, with a small group of close friends, is not. When Kyle left for middle school, and Grace, two grades lower, stayed in elementary school, she had a chance to grow without being so closely within his shadow - but now she is in 6th grade, and they will be attending the same middle school. With her two closest friends, Amy and Jay, Grace tries to create her own space in her new school, complicated by Jay's crush on Kyle, and Amy's intricate plans to get Kyle to notice Jay. Full of middle school angst, misunderstandings, miscommunications, and well-intentioned mistakes on every side, Grace navigates her first year of middle school in a well-written and well-illustrated graphic novel that exemplifies the experience of many younger siblings as well as many new-to-middle-school adolescents, in a fun and accessible way. I strongly recommend this for children concerned about the transition to middle school, as well as to middle school counselors trying to help students struggling with the transition and parents concerned about their own children's upcoming transition or difficulty with siblings.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
packs a punch
Jeong packs quite a punch in Kyle's Little Sister. I expected the focus to be on Grace's efforts to escape from Kyle's shadow. It is – to a certain extent. The story is much more complex than this, scrutinizing female friendships, sibling rivalry, and even bullying. Jeong's artwork, speech bubbles, and background text form a substantive narrative in which readers experience Grace's emotions and conflicts. Grace is by no means a perfect character. She makes poor choices and lives miserably with the resultant break with her best friends until those friends take the high road to protect her from a bully. Only then does she realize that her relationship with them is not lost. A complex character who begins to recognize the complexity of others, Grace's authenticity will resonate with readers. I recommend this for middle-schoolers. The romantic interests and dating quandaries were not really a fit for 6yo T. Note: A review copy was provided upon review for the purpose of this honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An adorable graphic novel
“Kyle’s Little Sister” is an adorable graphic novel that deals with friendship and sibling rivalry, and I enjoyed reading it. To begin with, I liked the friendship theme of the story. The author adds drama to Grace’s life as she struggles with her friendship with Jay and Amy. On top of that, she feels that her brother, Kyle, and their mother always roots for Kyle. The author depicted Grace’s feelings realistically, and I could relate to what she was going through. The story also places nicely where Grace soon finds herself in another popular crowd but doesn’t know their true intentions. Similarly, the author also handled the sibling relationship between Kyle and Grace nicely. While they get on each other’s nerves, in the end, they support one another. Cam also made a fine villain and was one of those characters I liked to dislike. But, the only criticism I have of the story is the breakup. While it makes sense that the girls all get angry and break up, I didn’t understand why they completely stopped talking to each other. If they have been friends for a long time, they could have easily patched things up. Moreover, I didn’t understand why Jay forgave Amy but not Grace, even though Amy was the one who said all those things. Jay doesn’t try even when Grace approaches and says hi to her. There was no explanation for this, and it felt off. Apart from that, I enjoyed the story. I think this is the author’s debut graphic novel and found it impressive. I hope we get this as a series, as I would like to read more of Grace growing up and surviving other challenges in middle school.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com