Middle-Grade Review: 7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up

Book By Book

Last month, in between my longer books, I squeezed in a middle-grade graphic novel, 7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up by Jimmy Gownley. This novel surprised me, in a good way, with more emotional depth than I first expected, and I enjoyed reading it. 

It’s a story of a diverse group of middle-school friends, but it is mostly about one boy, Kirby Finn. Kirby is the most popular guy in school, loved by all (except the principal), always smiling, and super-cool. Kirby leads the After-School Resistance at Greycliff Academy, a loose group of friends doing good deeds, driving Principal Cudgel crazy, and getting into trouble. Kirby is also the guy behind the funny “7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up” videos that mock the adults in their lives and make him even more popular. He is often getting the group together to help another kid, whether someone at their school or a kid he just happens to encounter who needs help. Kirby is everyone’s hero. But Kirby is also mysterious, and no one–not even his best friend, Raja–knows his secrets. When Raja does learn one of Kirby’s hidden truths, he discovers it’s a whopper. The kids come together this time to help Kirby and to learn to face some very grown-up issues.

At first, I thought this graphic novel was just silly and fun and perhaps a bit frenetic. I didn’t honestly like it that much at first, but I thought, “Well, I’m not the target audience here.” But it grew on me as the story developed and grew more complex, encountering some serious issues and digging into some real emotions. Gownley uses a very fun, modern, multi-media approach, with video clips, Guessipedia and dictionary entries, and other online-type elements, along with the more traditional graphic novel panels. I ended up really enjoying this unique graphic novel and getting immersed in the stories of Kirby and the other kids, who all have a lot of heart.

258 pages, Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

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