Just Roll with It
by Lee Durfey-Lavoie; illus. by Veronica Agarwal
Intermediate, Middle School    RH Graphic/Random    336 pp.    g
12/21    978-0-593-12541-0    $20.99
Library ed.  978-1-9848-9700-8   $23.99
Paper ed.  978-1-9848-9699-5    $12.99
e-book ed.  978-1-9848-9701-5    $8.99

In this graphic novel, sixth grader Maggie starts middle school with familiar worries: making friends, confronting bullies, navigating classes. She carries a many-sided die to roll whenever she’s confused, worried, or otherwise at a crossroads, each number corresponding in her mind to an action she should or should not take. Maggie is a gamer and a sci-fi/­fantasy and superhero fan, and she decides to join the school’s RPG (that’s role-playing game, for newbs) afterschool club. She grows comfortable with new like-minded friends — but she’s still reliant on her die. At home, surrounded by her loving, supportive South Asian family, she’s compelled to flick the lights, color-code her books, etc. What’s more, there’s a fierce white dragon in her head that second-guesses her thoughts and psyches her out: “That was all your fault…You can’t do anything right, can you?” Maggie’s compulsions and anxieties are important to the story, but this isn’t a book solely about them. Throughout the tale, illustrated in easy-to-read panel art with bubbly character shapes and subdued hues, we meet engaging secondary characters and even tag along as Maggie and friends help solve a (somewhat unlikely) wildlife mystery. An appended note touches on the book creators’ own experiences with mental illness.

From the September/October 2021 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.