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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-drawn characters and a good story, February 3, 2007
This review is from: Breaking Up(Fashion High Graphic Novel) (Paperback)
This teen romantic comedy is the newest release from Scholastic's GRAPHIX line of youth graphic novels, which also includes The Baby-Sitters Club series, the wildly adventurous Bone series by Jeff Smith, and the new Goosebumps graphic novels by R. L. Stine. "Breaking Up" follows the ups and downs of four friends in their junior year of high school. They attend the Georgia O'Keefe School for the Arts in New York City, but they've nicknamed it "Fashion High" because all the artsy kids who go there try *so hard* to be cool, fashionable, and different. The star of the book is Chloe Sacks, who loves school and her painting classes but just isn't into Fashion High's rat race of popularity and parties. She's surrounded, however, by three best friends who really *do* care, and sometimes their conflicting agendas cause arguments, misunderstandings, and DRAMA the likes of which even artsy Fashion High has never before seen. The real culprit in the conflict is Chloe's friend Mackenzie, who wants desperately to be a top-of-the-hive Queen Bee and who thinks that pursuing the school's popularity royalty, no matter how cruel and untrustworthy they are, is the surest way to the top. As Mackenzie strays from the fold, Chloe focuses her attention on painting--and on Adam, the smart, talented, but dangerously un-cool guy with whom she shares more interests than with anyone else, even her best friends. Chloe and Mackenzie polarize towards the suave and geeky crowds and end up pulling their other friends (sheltered, rebellious Isabel and shy, true-blue Erika) between them. Junior year becomes a tug-of-war that makes them all unhappy, with each one struggling to grown up and define what's most important to her. The central issue here is honesty: Isabel tries to get more freedom by fibbing to her parents, Erika dumps a boyfriend who tries to pressure her into getting physical, Mackenzie loses her mind and steps out with a good friend's beau, and Chloe, disastrously, tries to keep her relationship with the unpopular Adam a secret from everyone. "Breaking Up" treats all these tangled bonds with honesty, sweetness, and a good dose of teenage melodrama. Though its plot is a bit predictable, Aimee Friedman's script brings a lot of humor and some really wonderful character touches, like when Chloe begins to pick up Adam's habit of throwing out obscure, fascinating facts to her friends, followed by the phrase "It's just something I know." With such likable quirks, the author conveys a whole world of shifting teenage affections and insecurities. This graphic novel's great strength, though, is Christine Norrie's awesome black-and-white cartooning. Norrie is best known for drawing the charming punk-family dramedy comic "Hopeless Savages," and she continues creating great illustrations in the pages of Fashion High. She uses clean, pleasing lines; each of her characters has a distinct look; and the kids' spot-on body language conveys all the froth of their teenage hearts. I hope there are more Fashion High comics to come, and I hope Christine Norrie draws them. "Breaking Up" is recommended for teens because it deals in part with high-schoolers' questions about going steady and making out. The language in it is quite clean, and the situations stay clear of anything graphic. It's a good, solid teen novel that's like a less "mature" alternative to the "A-List" and "Clique" series--fun, engaging stuff for young readers, especially those interested in art and reading about teens involved in dance and the visual arts.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Breaking Up (with Your Best Friend) is Hard to Do, February 25, 2007
This review is from: Breaking Up(Fashion High Graphic Novel) (Paperback)
Welcome to Georgia O'Keefe School for the Arts, where teenaged artists and fashionistas strut down the hallways. BREAKING UP: A Fashion High Graphic Novel tells the story of four students: bold Mackenzie, dancer Erika, striking Isabel, and artistic Chloe, our narrator. The girls used to be as thick of thieves, especially Chloe and Mackenzie, but as junior year goes on, they drift apart. Will their friendship survive boys, school, and family issues? Mackenzie starts off the year with a bang, getting a lightning bolt tattoo on her back/shoulder. On a quest to be loved and popular, she seeks out the attention of the reigning couple of their grade level. Mackenzie finally becomes friends with the queen bee, Nicola - and begins secretly dating Nicola's boyfriend, Gabe. Erika has been dating Kyle since they were sophomores. They share a passion for music, though different kinds: quiet Erika plays the piano while Kyle rocks out on his guitar with his band. Their friends think they look cute together and tease them about how sweet they are, not knowing that Kyle's pressuring Erika to do something she doesn't want to do. Isabel has a gleam in her eyes and a need for her parents to ease up on her. Her parents are generous and loving in many ways, but they don't want her to date and they constantly keep tabs on her. Frustrated, Isabel throws herself into dance rehearsals. She starts seeing a soccer player named Brad even though it's against the rules. At the heart of it all is Chloe. While developing her talent in art class, she also develops a crush on Adam, a boy that Mackenzie thinks is totally dorky. Dating him might mean pushing an already drifting Mackenzie further away. Chloe finally admits to herself that she does like Adam, and when she finds out he likes her too, they start to date. By not telling her friends about her first real boyfriend, though, Chloe's only hiding something huge from them and making Adam feel as though she's ashamed of him. As the story proceeds and the girls grow too busy and too caught up in their personal lives to talk as much as they used to, it gets easier to lie to one another or avoid each other entirely. The tension builds, then explodes, and the once tight-knit group effectively breaks up. It is this disintegration to which the title truly refers, telling a story that many girls have gone through themselves with their best friends. This graphic novel boasts detailed black-and-white illustrations by Christine Norrie and text by Aimee Friedman. The dialogue is easy to follow, as is Chloe's narration. Unlike the majority of comics and animated projects, which have characters stay in the same outfits ninety-nine percent of the time, Norrie blesses these characters with varied wardrobes. This is a plus. After all, the series called FASHION HIGH, and I don't think Mackenzie would be caught dead in an outfit she had already worn. It also gives each girl a style indicative of her personality. Mackenzie and Isabel are more trendy than Erika and Chloe, who tend to be conservative. Norrie gives each girl a distinct look, making it easy to tell who's who, while Friedman gives each her own voice. The story does touch on some mature topics, making it appropriate for ages 14 and up, a little older than Scholastic's typical reader. In this particular case, the closer the reader is to the age of the four girls depicted, the more likely the reader is to relate to their experiences.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!, December 5, 2011
This review is from: Breaking Up(Fashion High Graphic Novel) (Paperback)
The back of this book begins with the statement: "There's a fine line between a friend and an enemy. One minute there's all this TRUST, and LAUGHTER, and LOVE. And the next minute ... there's HURT. And CRUELTY. And BETRAYAL." All of us have been there. We have had friendships fail for many different reasons but this book tries to examine a group of friends as they have a falling out and with some effort maybe recovery. What happens when best friends break up? This story is written following four friends through their junior year in high school. The four friends have a major blow up and falling out. As each goes their own way they encounter different problems and circumstances in life. And yet soon they realize that life sometimes bring us back to people who meant a lot to us. And sometimes it is the time apart that makes friendships strongest. The story is very well written. Aimee Friedman and Christine Norrie have crafted a great graphic novel. The art work is awesome, similar in style to both Faith Erin Hicks and Hope Larson. The story is in some ways like Cecil Castellucci's and Jim Rugg's Janes series. It was a great read and a graphic novel I know I will read many times over.
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