Introduction

If someone met me today… …is this how they’d always picture me?

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A-Okay is Jarad Greene’s semi-autobiographical middle grade graphic novel about navigating middle school with acne and uncertainty. Our protagonist Jay has to figure out how to solve his acne problem while wondering why he doesn’t share the feelings that some of his classmates have for him. This is a newer graphic novel, initially published in November 2021. I had the chance to hear Greene speak at ALA Annual 2022 – after I was convinced and rushed to Artist Alley to buy his novel. Like many things I did at ALA this summer, I’m so glad I did!

The Good Stuff

This is really a treat of a novel. Everything in it is heartfelt and you can’t help but cheer not only for Jay but for his friends, too. Greene has done something really cool here in writing and illustrating A-Okay himself – the writing and illustrations are well-balanced in terms of detail without either one overpowering the other or taking away from the overall effect. Let’s dive in.

The Story

First of all, this story is super-relatable for so many of us! Going through puberty is difficult for so many that you can’t help but be reminded of your own journey when following Jay through the book. Doing so while in the extremely transitory time of middle school increases the challenge exponentially, and on top of it Jay is figuring out that he doesn’t seem to share the romantic interests his friends do. Especially for those of us that suspected that we weren’t entirely straight as tweens and teens, Jay’s journey here is extremely familiar.

The story is set over the course of a school year – a familiar setting and framework that gives an easy-to-understand context to the events of the story. We’re getting to know Jay as he realizes that this year of middle school is going to be pretty different from previous years. His schedule is so different from that of his friends’ that he doesn’t even share a lunch period with them. Despite promising beginnings of new friendships, he’s also distressed by acne that seems worse and worse by the day. Chapter by chapter and month by month, Jay’s journey to keep his health in check and to survive his final year of middle school is a great mixture of compelling and humorous. I can’t say it enough, this book is such a treat!

I want to call out here specifically that my favorite bit was when Jay went through navigating a difficult healthcare process. Initially Jay goes to a dermatologist that speaks to him dismissively and doesn’t treat the person in from of him. Jay is able to make his discomfort known and his parents take him to a new dermatologist. The second doctor works with Jay to manage his acne and the associated symptoms of Accutane without being condescending or dismissive, and ends up celebrating with Jay once his treatment is finished. This might come off as pretty dorky, but I thought this was so cool! As someone who has navigating difficult health stuff before, I really appreciated seeing Jay and his family advocating for Jay’s best interests and switching doctors when their needs weren’t being met. This is a common situation for way too many people, especially kids, who aren’t always able to advocate for themselves. This might not have been the biggest detail in the story, but it’s one I appreciated quite a bit.

The last couple of things I wanted to call out about the story here were about how the story handles self-image and self-worth. Greene’s work on this throughout the story was wonderful! I’ll get into this a little more in the art section below, but in our collective quest to have more honest, optimistic stories about having a good relationship with one’s body this is an excellent addition. It’s also important to note the ace spectrum representation in this book here, too. Jay’s self-discovery on this front has its bumps and turns, but it’s a sweet exploration of discovering that, just maybe, you’re not ‘broken’ or ‘wrong’ for feeling differently than your peers.

The Art

The art for this graphic novel is a perfect compliment to the story. I really loved Greene’s expressions for every character! They were really pitch-perfect and communicated complicated emotions and reactions extraordinarily well. It’s a unique style that I haven’t seen a whole lot of and it is just so dang cute. I’m going to specifically call out how Greene portrays Jay’s self-image throughout the book, both in real time and in flashbacks. Greene perfectly captures how our mental image of ourselves isn’t always reflective or wholly truthful about what others see, and it’s a great way to engage younger readers about the deeper meanings of the book. I’d say that because of how well the art works with this story, this would be a great candidate for a middle grade book club (especially if paired with other wonderful authors like Svetlana Chmakova and Raina Telgemeier!).

In Summary

I know this review has gone on for a while, but there’s a lot of great things to say about this sweet book. In case you couldn’t already tell, this book is highly recommended. This one was published late last year, so you can find it in your local library! You can also find it via the publisher’s website here. As always, gichi miigwetch for reading!