FRESH START: A Graphic Novel, by Gale Galligan, Graphix, Jan. 7, 2025, Paperback, $14.99 (ages 8-12)
Author Gale Galligan tells a semi-autobiographical story in her new middle-grade graphic novel about friendship and belonging, Fresh Start.
Ollie Herisson’s dad is a diplomat, which means her family moves around a lot. She has already lived in Singapore, Korea, France, and the United States. When Ollie starts at a new school, she doesn’t worry about making a good impression because she knows that when her family inevitably moves again, she’ll get a fresh start somewhere else. A complete reset. It doesn’t matter if her classmates think she’s weird for pretending that she lives in the world of an imagined anime, or if she makes an enemy out of the most popular girl in her class, or if she does something hugely embarrassing! And it definitely doesn’t matter that all her mom wants is for Ollie to be more of a proper Thai daughter.
But after moving from Germany to Virginia and having a mortifying first day at her new school, Ollie is shocked to learn that her parents are going to buy a house so that Ollie and her sister, Cat, can finish grade school in one place. Can Ollie figure out how to both be herself and make real friends when she can’t run away from her life? —Synopsis provided by Graphix
*Editor’s note: The following review is by my 10-year-old (aka Anonymous Reader) who took possession of Fresh Start from the moment she saw it and hasn’t given it back. She’s a huge fan of Gale Galligan and wanted to write her own review.
Ollie Herrisson is a manga-loving, imaginative adolescent whose family is always moving. When she ends up in Chestnut Falls, Virginia, she discovers her parents bought a house, she gets her first period and meets some new friends and gets in a fight with one (the fight gets resolved.)
I like the layout Gale Galligan put into this book and I can’t wait to see her next work!
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