Buzzing

Gr 6 Up--Isaac was recently diagnosed with OCD. At school, he has trouble focusing because of his intrusive thoughts. At home, Isaac's mom wants the best for him but is overprotective to the point where his sister, Miriam, is ignored. Miriam is jealous of the attention Isaac gets and is mean to him at home and in school. When a classmate, Micah, sees Isaac's drawing, they introduce him to their group of friends and invite him to play Swamps & Sorcery, a fantasy role-playing game. Isaac's mom worries this could make his OCD symptoms worse; throughout the story, Isaac struggles to show his mom that it is actually helpful for him. The art adeptly depicts how Isaac's thoughts can be so harmful. At first, only shades of a blueish gray are used except for the bees, which are yellow and stand out. When Isaac hangs out with his new friend group for the first time, readers get full pages of color. From there, they'll bounce back and forth between these palettes, and it helps show where Isaac is comfortable and can be himself. The story handles different topics other than OCD. Isaac's relationships with his mom and sister are both important, and both are tested. Isaac and Micah, who is nonbinary, like each other and get closer as the story progresses. The story falls a little flat toward the end, as conflicts quietly resolve on their own. Drawings from Swamps & Sorcery are included in the back matter. VERDICT Overall, a sweet story that fans of Raina Telgemeier will enjoy.--Michelle Lettus

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Because of the intrusive thoughts and compulsions--visually rendered as an ever-present swarm of bullying cartoon bees--that characterize his recently diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, 12-year-old Isaac, portrayed with brown skin, has been feeling overwhelmed and isolated. So he's delighted when classmates, impressed by his drawings of dragons and other mythical creatures, invite him to join their Swamps & Sorcery RPG group. Isaac finds that he loves the game and that hanging out with his intersectionally diverse new friends--and developing romantic feelings for white and freckled nonbinary peer Micah--helps reduce the frequency of his symptoms. But Isaac's mother worries that these new experiences will have a negative effect on his mental health, and Isaac's older sister Miriam feels ignored because of their mother's focus on Isaac. Palette shifts between blue/gray tones and full-color sequences respectively depict Isaac's everyday life managing his OCD alongside moments of joy and calm, such as interactions with his friends and fantastical scenes from the tweens' RPG. Via Isaac's nuanced relationships with classmates, family, and himself, collaborators Sattin and Hickman (Bezkamp, for adults) conceive a cleverly rendered interpretation of OCD embedded in a wholesome graphic novel drama. Ages 8-12. Agent: (for both) Dara Hyde, Hill Nadell Literary. (July)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

The power of a role-playing group can't fix everything, but it goes a long way. Isaac is a teen with OCD [and] suffers from near-constant intrusive thoughts, cleverly visualized here as bees with mean voices. Over the story, he builds confidence and community by leaning into his love of fantasy and drawing; as a former fellow misfit teen artist, it was wonderful to watch him grow. This is a nuanced and diverse coming-of-age story. I'm so excited for all of the readers who will discover it and see themselves in it.—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer: A Memoir