Middle-Grade Review: A First Time for Everything

I finally have an iPad Mini to replace my very old Kindle, and I finally learned how to download review PDFs to it and open them up in the Books app. That means I am back to reviewing graphic novels (which went all digital last year). Yay! I missed them. The first one I read was a winner: A First Time for Everything, a graphic memoir by Dan Santat.

Dan wasn't very happy in middle school. Like many kids that age, he felt very self-conscious. He had some friends but found that the bullies in middle school were really mean. Then, a teacher asked him to recite a poem in front of the entire school at an assembly, and the teasing really ramped up. He was not looking forward to high school. His parents encouraged him to sign up for a three-week European study abroad program during the summer before high school, and he did, reluctantly. The only kids going that he knew from his school were some girls who were sort of mean to him usually, so Dan didn't have high hopes for the trip. But that trip changed his life. As the group from two cities traveles across Europe to four different countries, Dan experiences a string of firsts. He discovers a popular soda in Europe called Fanta, and aims to try every flavor. He makes new friends. He sees amazing things and, when his camera breaks, discovers how much he loves to draw. Maybe he'll even meet his first girlfriend?

Based on the author's real middle-school experiences taking a European trip, this graphic memoir captures the awkward, embarrassing, funny, and unforgettable moments of adolescence that most of us can relate to. It's part coming-of-age memoir and part travelogue, with the illustrations showing both traditional story-telling panels and also Dan's wonderful drawings of the trip and the things that they saw. It's a wonderful story that reminded me of my own trip to England and France in high school. I enjoyed every page of this beautiful graphic memoir.

320 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - F

Nonfiction Reader's Challenge (my first of the year!) - Memoir category

Travel the World in Books - UK, France, Switzerland, Germany

 

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 

 

Or you can order A First Time for Everything from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.