By Emma Mills
A graphic novel about a seventh grader starting over at a new school who gets stuck in the Environmental Club and finds real friends there.
After her parents split up, seventh grader Violet has to start over in a new town and a new school where she doesn't know anyone. She makes a couple of friends fast, and then the three of them land in detention. The way out is to join the one club nobody picks on purpose: the Environmental Club. Violet figures it'll be a chore. It turns out to be the place she finally fits, with a small group that actually wants her around.
It's a full-color graphic novel, so the pages move fast and the feelings play out right on the characters' faces. That makes it an easy read for a child who takes one look at a wall of text and closes the book. Underneath the format is a story a lot of children know from the inside: everything changed, nobody asked them, and now there's a whole new life to build. Watching Violet do exactly that, and find real friends in a club she never wanted, is a good thing to put in the hands of a child who feels a little lost right now.