A review by jwinchell
The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson

3.0

Grades 5-8. Faith starts middle school with an immediate invitation from the most popular girl in school to join the soccer team. Amanda promptly ignores her while Faith gets initiated into the personalities on the team and the reality of her low-level C team. Through no shortage of middle school tropes, Faith and her teammates go through drama as they become friends on the soccer field and off. As the C team is not very good at soccer, there are many middle school moments: a bra strap showing, drawing on one’s body and not paying attention in class, making fun of an emotional teammate, mean nicknames, middle of the night revenge, starting a band, fights over a boy, friend breakups, a kiss, and coming out. Characters of different colors, with varying lengths of hair, skin health, personalities, hairstyles, head coverings, language, family structures, and body sizes demonstrate a radical inclusivity. Transitions to a pretend world with Faith’s fairy tale drawings are sudden and short-lived; though they echo Faith’s coming of age, these make believe episodes quickly jar the storyline. Narration doesn’t always follow Faith; small scenes from the perspective of teammate Huong and Jennifer and others make for disconcerting breaks. VERDICT: Uneven storytelling but needed diversity in the graphic literature world means this is a solid choice for most middle grade libraries. --Jamie Winchell, Percy Julian Middle School, Oak Park, IL