Kayla Miller, Act, Walker Books, July 2022, 224 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 978176 0654931
Kayla Miller, Clash. Walker Books, October 2022, 224 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk) ISBN 9781760655174
The third in Kayla Miller’s graphic novel series, Act, follows Camp and Click! The series features, Olive and her bestie Willow, navigating the challenges of Grade 6.
The focus for Act is the school election of student leaders. Early in the novel, Olive’s class take a field trip to see a Shakespearean play which they all enjoy. But Olive is disturbed to learn that one of her friends, Beth, missed out on the trip because her family is on a ‘tight budget’. Olive’s keen sense of justice leads her to raise the issue with her teacher who says ‘it’s simply the way things are’. And so, with encouragement from her Aunt Molly, Olive initiates a protest and ultimately runs as a student leader.
While Olive runs on a platform of addressing student concerns, her larrikin friends, Trent and Sawyer, run a solo-issue campaign – to bring chocolate pudding to the school lunch room.
With its bright coloured panels and relatable characters, this series will appeal to fans of The Babysitters Club and Raina Telgemeier. Act, in particular, is a good book for generating discussion about protest movements, leadership and elections. There is backmatter with lengthier discussion of the historical protests that Olive researches in the book.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
Clash is the fourth book in Kayla Miller’s entertaining graphic novel series about the perky Olive navigating the challenges of Grade 6.
In Clash, Olive is assigned the task of looking after the new girl, Nat. Nat quickly discovers Olive’s widespread popularity and jealously begins undermining her and attempting to steal her friends. Sunny Olive is perplexed and can’t figure out why Nat doesn’t like her.
The story explores the difficulty in supporting a ‘frenemy’, especially when everyone else appears to have enthusiastically adopted her as a new friend. Miller says she was inspired to write by her youthful discovery that you can’t get along with everyone. Even, if you’re Olive.
Halloween features in the plot and the back matter includes some easy costume ideas, in addition to an interesting Q and A with Miller.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
