The Love Report

Gr 7-10--Lola, a sweetly naive romantic, and Grace, a world-weary curmudgeon, use their best friend powers to investigate love in all its forms in this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel. Originally published in France, this fast-paced read hits all the dramatic notes as Lola and Grace report on their classmates' obsessions, jealousies, crushes, and betrayals--and eventually experience some of the drama for themselves. While the investigation and report read very young, the pair's classmates and relationship drama seem more aligned with high school, making it hard to pin down exactly how old Lola and Grace are. This dissonance, as well as some instances of simplistic or overly blunt dialogue, may be due to the fact that this was originally written in another language. The art is vibrant and will be highly appealing to manga fans. Occasional monochromatic sections and creative page design add much to the impact of this story where the language may falter. Lola is white while Grace is Black, and their peers appear to belong to many different racial and ethnic groups. Those looking for positive LGBTQIA+ representation should search elsewhere, as there is little to be found in this story. VERDICT An additional purchase where tween drama and manga-style art are popular.--Catherine Cote

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Ah, young love! By turns sweet and dramatic, this graphic novel encompasses all of the angst, warmth, and bewilderment of experiencing all types of love - romantic, familial, and companionable - as a middle grader. — Courtney Yee, Changing Hands Bookshop 

An excellent addition to the gallery of tween/teen domestic titles like Telgemeier's Drama, Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle Schools Series, and the romance oriented Baby Sitter's Club....Definitely going on my list for tween graphic novel readers' advisory for tweens looking for read-a-likes for the titles above. — Chloë St. Claire, Multnomah County Library, Portland OR 

Will hit home for many young teens that are confused about crushes and love and all the intricacies.....I often get asked for early teen books that have friendship as a main theme but without it being catty.....I'd highly recommend this for about 12-15 year olds, but it could resonate with older teens too. — Dephne De Grandpre, Kidsbooks Vancouver 

I loved The Love Report. It was sweet and wonderful and timely. Everyone needs to read this book and feel the warmth and realness of these amazing characters. — Karen Blankenship, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives 

The PERFECT book for middle grade students! The artwork is beautiful and the story is masterful. This book fluidly covers so many different instances of love to shape what love can mean for anyone. It also briefly goes into the topic of boundaries and unwanted touch which is extremely important for our youth to understand. — Kathleen Daniels, Librarian, University of South Florida 

A fun read with gorgeous art on every page. Stunning to look at with a good core message about female friendship. — Jacey Anderson, Rediscovered Bookshop 

Authentic representation of young antics and plots that is filled with genuine characters. Love the dialogue between the characters. — Came Johnson, Pittsvlvania County Public Library System (VA) 

Portrays the frenetic pace of breakups and makeups very well....one to have on hand for readers who have worked their way through other titles with lots of drama like Miller's Besties: Work it Out, Holms' Real Friends, Jamieson's Roller Girl, and the works of Raina Telgemeier. — Ms. Yingling Reads 

A great book for anyone who wants a middle grade novel about navigating complex relationships (of all types - platonic, romantic, familial, and so on) as well as anyone who wants to read a book with a strong cast of female characters. I feel like this would be good for fans of Raina Telgemeier's "Drama" or Svetlana Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle School series. — Ash, Netgalley