Review: New in Town

Curlfriends: New in Town
By Sharee Miller
New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Comics. 282 pages.

12-year-old Charlie is used to being the new girl with no friends in school, what with her dad being in the military. But now her dad is retired and they're moving back to his hometown for good. Charlie is determined that this time will be different. She'll have the right clothes, the right hair, and she'll ditch the "babyish" things she loves, all in the hopes of fitting in and making friends. Can Charlie keep up the charade and find the popularity she's been hoping for?

Sharee Miller remembers what it's like to be a self-conscious teenager! There's an exchange in the book where Charlie is talking to a potential new friend and the friend asks her if she likes a band that Charlie has never heard of. Charlie's desire to look cool leads her to lie and say she loves the band and boy, that was so relatable to me! I absolutely remember pretending to have seen a movie or heard of a song or pretended to buy a shirt at a cool store instead of Kmart to fit in. Readers will also find something they can relate to in this endearing comic book about finding true friends, and yourself.

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