Doodles from the Boogie DownReview posted July 30, 2025.
Kokila, 2023. 204 pages.
Review written June 28, 2023, from a library book.
This graphic novel is reportedly not exactly an autobiography, but tells about an eighth-grader named Stephanie who lives in the Bronx and wants to go to a high school for the Arts in Manhattan rather than continuing in Catholic school, as her mother wants her to.
Trying to talk with her mother about it when she got the idea didn’t go far. So Steph does some lying to get to work with the art teacher on her portfolio.
Meanwhile, she’s having adventures learning more about art, enjoying activities with her friends, and navigating middle school. But what will happen when her mother finds out about her schemes?
I still think that graphic novels are the perfect form for middle school memoirs. The author says this isn’t quite a memoir, but it does come with all the emotion of living it.