Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
lighthearted
reflective
A great graphic novel for middle grade kids to relate to especially for students who are minorities but also shows other students what racism can look like and how they can do something about it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism
Christina, an Asian living in Texas, struggles to belong in her white middle school.
Christina decides to tryout for the cheerleading squad, so that she'll fit in, and kids will no longer bully her. Most of the novel surrounds the tryouts, and Christina’s challenges with her best friend, Megan, who is slowly drifting away.
I loved the ending.
After days of practicing and anticipation, the big day comes. Christina and Megan both don’t get into the cheerleading squad.
However, after getting over her disappointment, Christina uses her failure as an opportunity for growth. She goes on to accomplish and grow, and she uses the skills that she developed while practicing for the tryouts to do it. This gave the book a really nice finish.
The pictures at the end, showing the real life Christina and her dad, were also an interesting touch to the story.
Christina has a wild imagination, which makes for many interesting scenes as she imagines herself and her best friend as elves, conquering the world. And, she has two loving parents standing behind her, which give her lots of confidence and support, and a great life attitude.
This is cute relatable middle-school story that middle graders will enjoy.
If you enjoyed this, check out [b:Invisible|56587993|Invisible|Christina Diaz Gonzalez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649176963l/56587993._SX50_.jpg|88382440].
Content:
Religion:
Christina and her family go to both a Thai temple, and a church. There are a few pages of worshipers bowing and speaking to buddha statues, as well as scenes of them in church with crosses.
Christina also compares Jesus and Buddha, and there are pictures of both.
Romance:
There are many pictures of cheerleaders in short skirts, and shorts. However, none of the drawings are super realistic or detailed. There is a mention of how it’s not fair the cheerleaders get to wear them because they are out of the dress code.
Girls change in front of each other in PE and a comment that Christina is lucky she doesn’t need a sports bra.
Other:
A few scenes show characters watching TV. Two frames show a fake fart news show.
Christina decides to tryout for the cheerleading squad, so that she'll fit in, and kids will no longer bully her. Most of the novel surrounds the tryouts, and Christina’s challenges with her best friend, Megan, who is slowly drifting away.
I loved the ending.
Spoiler
After days of practicing and anticipation, the big day comes. Christina and Megan both don’t get into the cheerleading squad.
However, after getting over her disappointment, Christina uses her failure as an opportunity for growth. She goes on to accomplish and grow, and she uses the skills that she developed while practicing for the tryouts to do it. This gave the book a really nice finish.
The pictures at the end, showing the real life Christina and her dad, were also an interesting touch to the story.
The cheerleaders glowed because they were popular. Popular kids wore the right clothes and told the right jokes. And no one ever made fun of their names or their lunches. I was determined to dress the part. Unpopular kids got bullied. No way would that be me.
Christina has a wild imagination, which makes for many interesting scenes as she imagines herself and her best friend as elves, conquering the world. And, she has two loving parents standing behind her, which give her lots of confidence and support, and a great life attitude.
This is cute relatable middle-school story that middle graders will enjoy.
If you enjoyed this, check out [b:Invisible|56587993|Invisible|Christina Diaz Gonzalez|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649176963l/56587993._SX50_.jpg|88382440].
Content:
Religion:
Christina and her family go to both a Thai temple, and a church. There are a few pages of worshipers bowing and speaking to buddha statues, as well as scenes of them in church with crosses.
Christina also compares Jesus and Buddha, and there are pictures of both.
Romance:
There are many pictures of cheerleaders in short skirts, and shorts. However, none of the drawings are super realistic or detailed. There is a mention of how it’s not fair the cheerleaders get to wear them because they are out of the dress code.
Girls change in front of each other in PE and a comment that Christina is lucky she doesn’t need a sports bra.
Other:
A few scenes show characters watching TV. Two frames show a fake fart news show.
Just read this one because I was bored. Plot and suspense was pretty nice and decent, would recommend to a kid or another teenager.
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Screaming crying throwing up I love this I cannot believe I waited so long to read it!!! Literally perfect
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
I am so grateful to Christina Soontornvat for sharing her story here; it must have been quite daunting writing something so personal. As such, it doesn’t feel right attaching an exact rating to this review, but just know I wholeheartedly recommend this read!
For one, this story spreads so many incredible messages to its middle-grade audience. One is that failure, or not getting something that you want, is just redirection, as it opens up space for another opportunity to come along that you couldn’t even have dreamt up. I wish this had been taught to me as a kid because it would have been a real source of comfort in my disappointments. Another message is that you and your friends developing different interests doesn’t mean your friendship is ending! This was so refreshing to see, as often in MG this is depicted as a friend-ship ender, which CAN be true, but what is ALSO true is that many many friendships are comprised of people with different interests! The third key message the book teaches is that with community you can navigate oppression. Christina is Thai-American and so experiences racism in the form of micro- and macro-aggressions at her middle-school. While this oppression isn’t something her community can immediately eradicate, it is something they support her in facing and resisting. Any book that expresses the power of community automatically rises high in my estimation. It is something that has been eroded by capitalism in Western, particularly white Western, society, so is incredibly important to demonstrate to kids.
Just to set expectations, the focus of the novel is definitely on Christina learning these three messages, with cheerleading tryouts being a conduit for this rather than the focus itself. So it is not exactly a sports book, but I loved this choice!
The voting system in the cheerleader tryouts was a great representation of the “meritocracy” of Western society. The cheerleader elections are supposed to be based on performance, when in reality they are based on popularity, which of course is affected by factors such as race. Yet the school still believes this to be a meritocratic process! Likewise, Western society at large will call itself a meritocracy, believing success is achieved through skill, when in reality it is determined by factors such as race as well.
Cacao’s art style was great, simple and colourful, which is what I’ve happily come to expect from Scholastic/Graphix graphic novels. Cacao avoids the liminal-background effect that often accompanies this type of style by using colour-block panel backgrounds, or patterning the backgrounds of her illustrations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Racism
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Islamophobia, Pregnancy
Minor: fainting, toxic masculinity
emotional
reflective
This book is not as much about cheerleading as you might expect from the cover.
I get why they sold it that way - like any activity decision during your early years, trying out for cheerleading can be a pretty major potential turning point.
What stands out to me about this story, though, is the stuff about Christina's family restaurant, and the challenge of being half-Thai in Texas. Which relates, of course, to the cheerleading.
I loved the ending of the story. I loved the self-reflection in the story. What kind of person do you want to be? CAN you succeed at anything if you really try? Pivotal middle school questions. Pivotal LIFE questions.
The illustrator, Joanna Cacao, did a great job on the form. Full color, and it's very much going to appeal to kids who love autobio graphic novels like this. I love that she talks about her own experience in her bio.
I get why they sold it that way - like any activity decision during your early years, trying out for cheerleading can be a pretty major potential turning point.
What stands out to me about this story, though, is the stuff about Christina's family restaurant, and the challenge of being half-Thai in Texas. Which relates, of course, to the cheerleading.
I loved the ending of the story. I loved the self-reflection in the story. What kind of person do you want to be? CAN you succeed at anything if you really try? Pivotal middle school questions. Pivotal LIFE questions.
The illustrator, Joanna Cacao, did a great job on the form. Full color, and it's very much going to appeal to kids who love autobio graphic novels like this. I love that she talks about her own experience in her bio.
Just like that, another graphic novel that has captured my heart! ♥️
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat @csoontornvat and illustrated by Joanna Cacao @jocabako
The story of Christina and her best friend Megan is truly such a realistic, important, heartwarming, hilarious story of two middle school friends trying to find their way!
With cheerleading tryouts as the main event, the themes that are unpacked range from racism, religion, friendship, family, immigration, bullying, stereotypes, etc etc etc! The characters are so diverse and lovable, and the story is truly engaging.
I cannot wait to recommend this one to students- it will be POPULAR!
Great for grades 6-8 ☺️
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat @csoontornvat and illustrated by Joanna Cacao @jocabako
The story of Christina and her best friend Megan is truly such a realistic, important, heartwarming, hilarious story of two middle school friends trying to find their way!
With cheerleading tryouts as the main event, the themes that are unpacked range from racism, religion, friendship, family, immigration, bullying, stereotypes, etc etc etc! The characters are so diverse and lovable, and the story is truly engaging.
I cannot wait to recommend this one to students- it will be POPULAR!
Great for grades 6-8 ☺️
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book was marvelous and heartwarming. Sometimes, life just doesn't work out the way you want it to. Embrace who you are now, because life is short. I could tell this story was taken from the author's own life. Buddhism was explained well in this story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
The Tryout is a fabulous graphic memoir in the ranks with Smile by Telgemeir. The art style is hilarious and the book made us literally LOL.