Synopsis:
Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don’t get noticed by the mean kids.
Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them.
On her first day at her new school, Penelope–Peppi–Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she’s already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the “nerder girlfriend.” How does she handle this crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away!
Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the art club, Peppi still can’t help feeling ashamed about the way she treated Jaime. Things are already awkward enough between the two, but to make matters worse, he’s a member of her own club’s archrivals–the science club! And when the two clubs go to war, Peppi realizes that sometimes you have to break the rules to survive middle school!
Review:
Holy cuteness. Awkward is such a great graphic novel. I will always tell people to check out middle grade graphic novels no matter how old they are. I love how easy going and sweet they are. Awkward also had a lot of depth to it. Not only do you have a really diverse cast of characters, but the plot had a lot going on.
I 100% would have been obsessed with this graphic novel when I was younger. Most of my favourite books when I was a kid had illustrations in them (Dork Diaries, Scream Street) so this would have been right up my street. Even as an adult, I loved everything about it.
I’m genuinely a little obsessed with the art style of Awkward. The character designs were so cute, especially Jaime and Peppi. The range of emotions and the amount of personality exuding from their designs was actually pretty impressive. Also, the colour palette was lovely. It had just the right amount of boldness to it to keep the pages interesting without taking away from what was going on in the story. The level of detail in the settings made this world feel alive. Even the background characters had stuff going on.
As someone at school that would have loved to be part of both the art club and the science club, I really enjoyed the rivalry between them. I found the pranks they pulled pretty hilarious and watching them come together at the end to create a wonderful experience for the whole school was so wholesome.
Another part of Awkward that was wholesome was Peppi and Jaime’s friendship. It took probably longer than it should for Peppi to apologise for pushing Jaime on her first day, but the younger age of the characters meant this was pretty realistic. Also, how they don’t openly talk about the situation but spend time together anyway feels like something kids do. They don’t tend to hold grudges in the same way adults do.
One of my favourite parts of graphic novels is getting insight into the creation process. I love seeing character design concepts and knowing just how long it takes to create something like this really makes you appreciate it more. A lot of love and passion went into this graphic novel and that was present on every page.
If you’re looking for a lighthearted, funny and heart-warming read, you need to check out Awkward.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: To Be Watched: June 2025