FROM PANEL TO PANEL • If You Say So (All Summer Long by Hope Larson)

[quote]Thirteen-year-old Bina has a long summer ahead of her. She and her best friend, Austin, usually do everything together, but he’s off to soccer camp for a month, and he’s been acting kind of weird lately anyway. So it’s up to Bina to see how much fun she can have on her own. At first it’s a lot of guitar playing, boredom, and bad TV, but things look up when she finds an unlikely companion in Austin’s older sister, who enjoys music just as much as Bina. But then Austin comes home from camp, and he’s acting even weirder than when he left. How Bina and Austin rise above their growing pains and reestablish their friendship and respect for their differences makes for a touching and funny coming-of-age story.[/quote]

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from First Second (Macmillan) for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

Summer vacation is around the corner! What kind of adventures did you go on or will be going on? For Bina, her Summer isn’t gonna be spent doing the Summer Fun Index with her best friend Austin like the past few years. Nope, this Summer is gonna suck because she won’t have Austin this summer. :(

We’ve all experienced these—not having your best friend to hang out with, not being able to go to summer camp like your friend, feeling disconnected from your friends, doing things you didn’t expect to do and befriending unexpected people. This is everything that Bina faces during her summer. She thought that her summer would be like any other—with Austin. She feels lost without him. What is she supposed to do?

In her summer without her best friend, she watches a lot of TV shows, befriends the most unexpected and formerly scary person, rocks out to her favorite bands and new ones, meets new family member.

Hope Larson portrays these vivid scenes of what everybody can expect of their summer when they’re a kid. All Summer Long explores the summer adventures of a girl who has to make due without her best friend and have some fun.

Who will love this graphic novel? People who have Summer breaks. People who have experienced what it’s like to not have your friends to hang out during the Summer.

Why you should read All Summer Long? We’ve all experienced this type of Summer. Why not relive it a bit? Get that nostalgia trip going.

[note note_color=”#ec8015″ text_color=”#ffffff”]All Summer Long by Hope Larson
May 1, 2018 • First Second (Macmillan)

Add to your TBR on Goodreads. Go buy All Summer Long from your local comic book store, or these online retailers: Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Indigo. Or borrow it from your library.

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