Making Friends, a gleeful graphic novel that is not what you think

I know this graphic novel, that’s what you’re thinking. You look at the cover and see three girls and a boy, all of whom are in middle school. They’re talking on the school bus, they all look happy and the graphic novel is called Making Friends. I thought I knew this graphic novel before reading it, thinking that it would have some tragic, Doofenshmirtz-type back story about the friends and what they’ve overcome. Instead, Making Friends is a joyful graphic novel about friendship, science-fiction, family and realizing when you’re in the right place. It’s a fast paced graphic novel that ages 12 and up will immediately relate to, but the book is appropriate for those readers 8 and up.

Author Kristen Gudsnuk does a great job of balancing the heady trials of seventh grade. Dany had a great core group of friends in sixth grade, but this new school is different and she’s not sure where she fits in. See, the graphic novel feels like something where you know what’s going to happen. Shortly after a bad day at school Dany takes solace in a sketch book that she inherited from her great-aunt. She doodles a handsome anime-type head, whom she calls Prince Neptune, in the journal and it comes to life. She freaks out about the fact that this body-less prince wants to help her on her quest, not to mention that what she just drew came to life.

Being that she was trying to find purpose-and a good friend, Dany decides to draw Madison. She’s given a very base background, but is instantly Dany’s best friend and already slightly cooler (according to Dany) than her. The social cliques of middle school rear their head. The popular girls start to circle around Madison, Dany’s existing friends are wary of this new person and Prince Neptune realizes that he has lots of power in this new world.

There are style changes in the art between the characters from the notebook and those in real-life that drive the graphic novel home. As the action grows there are action sequences that happen in anime form instead of a traditional graphic novel. As a result, we loved reading Making Friends and found ourselves immediately engrossed in it. The book will skew a bit more for girls than boys, but that’s only due to most of the characters being girls. If upper elementary school or middle school boys just let themselves go and read the book they’ll enjoy it just as much.