Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

My oldest turned 15 this week, folks–FIFTEEN.

I am not ready to have a child with a driver’s permit.

On the other hand, that incredible, 15-year-old girlie of mine has also been having some health issues, and trying to ease those has consumed a fair amount of my mental energy of late. Today, however, I’m reviewing Kayla Miller’s Clash, which I pushed myself to finished yesterday so that my 12-year-old could get her greedy little hands on it. (Little being part of the expression, since she’s slightly taller than her newly 15-year-old sister…although that’s not exactly a Herculean feat.) Kayla Miller’s books about Olive tend towards the cozy side of middle grade graphic novels; the conflicts never get raw, and Olive always has a healthy level of love and support. In Clash, however, the new girl in Olive’s class takes advantage of Olive’s friendly overtures and is downright mean to her in a sly, always-subtle-when-in-front-of-other-people sort of way. Her reasons for her actions and the resolution of the conflict felt too cozy for Nat’s level of meanness, at least to me; I’m a parent, however, and a parent of girls who have had these sort of clashes on occasion. I do think that even the intended audience might find the ‘everybody seems to get along in Olive’s grade’ idea unrealistic (laughable?), but on the other hand, there’s something to be said for showing kids better ways to socialize and deal with conflict than they’re probably experiencing in real life. Ultimately, this is likely to appeal to its intended audience and Olive’s eventual actions are worth emulating; I just don’t think it works as well for parents.

Have a good day, y’all!