The Love Report Volume 2
(The Love Report #2)

Gr 5-8--Grace, Lola, and friends continue their investigations into how love and romance will play a role in their lives as they grow older, beyond their current tween years. This volume features bullies, attractive older boys, a trip to Sardinia, "girl power," a kindly father figure, and a new character who has a backstory of family neglect. The girls are pixie-featured and present various skin tones and stages of physical development, from childlike to early adolescence. The settings are gorgeously illustrated and lighted--whether they are interiors of school rooms, old houses, or the illustrator's own Sardinia. While the group seems to be universally straight and cis-gendered, the storytelling and character development by the French creative team will speak to the concern many tweens hold with the question: "Will I be able to recognize romantic love in my own life?" VERDICT Buy where Volume 1 found an audience, and where graphic novels for young readers with an interest in international storytelling.--Francisca Goldsmith