A review by heatherbermingham
Growing Pangs by Kathryn Ormsbee

5.0

As a former teacher, I've definitely noticed an increase in anxiety in children and this autobiographical graphic novel really delves into anxiety and OCD in a sweet, sensitive way. It also deals with that challenging age (6th grade in this case) when friendships and relationships change in ways that are hard to predict or understand, and I love that there's a friendship in this story that just kind of... ends. It's not as neat or happy, but it's so realistic. The illustrator uses the visual nature of graphic novels in some really neat ways to demonstrate when Katie's thoughts are really overwhelming her and when she's got them more under control. I bought this for my library just based on some reviews, but it's definitely a good one.