This is a coming of age graphic novel about a 7th grader named Olivia going by the name Viv because there are so many other Olivia’s at her school and she is on a mission to be bold and different and live in her truth. On picture day at school her mom makes Viv were an old cardigan that Viv doesn’t like at all. Viv wants to stand out so badly so while at school she ends up cutting her braid off to send a message that she is ready to not be the same person any morere.

Viv follows a popular influencer named Quinn Sparks, Quinn seems to be someone Viv looks up to and gets a lot of advice from. Quinn tends to talk about being your true self and doing what makes you happy regardless of how others think.

Viv wants the recognition from some kids at school regarding her new change. Meanwhile her friends Milo and Al just want her to stay on task regarding the costumes in skate sequence that they’re doing for school.

I believe young kids and middle schoolers who read this will learn that trying to be too different comes at price and also following internet fame shouldn’t be as important as really loving who you are.

I enjoyed the illustrations and how colorful they were. This graphic novel has a good message for kids which is something I really appreciate.

Rating 4⭐

Book Info:
Picture Day by Sarah Sax
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel
Publishing Date: June 27, 2023
Synopsis:
Everyone knows the most stressful day of middle school is picture day ! And that’s exactly where
this yearbook-worthy graphic novel series opener with reinventing yourself, drama, popularity, and
the friends who see you through.
Seventh-grader Viv never looks forward to picture day. It’s just another day where she wears a
boring braid and no one notices her. (Her two best friends, Milo and Al, don’t count, of course.)
But enough is enough. This year, she’s taking matters into her own hands. Literally. Viv grabs a pair
of scissors, her phone for live-streaming, and, well, bye-bye braid.
Suddenly Viv is an over-night influencer at Brinkley Middle School. Everyone wants her help planning
their next big moment—from haircuts, to dance proposals, activist rallies and mathlete
championships. She hardly even has time for her friends anymore. It’s exactly how she dreamed of
reinventing herself…right?
In the tradition of modern classics like Vera Brosgol’s Be Prepared , Svetlana Chmakova’s Awkward
, and Kayla Miller’s Click , Picture Day brings answers to perennial questions of what it means to be
true to yourself—and a true friend.

Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62926934
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Day-Brinkley-Yearbooks-Sarah/dp/0593306880/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/picture-day-sarah-sax/1142214029/
IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/picture-day/18885244

About author

Sarah cares deeply about encouraging young readers to discover and expand their sense of creative
confidence. She studied Storytelling and Sequential Imagery at Hampshire College and she’s since
worked as an educator at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco, a volunteer with 826
Valencia, and as Creative Director at Lumosity, where she led a team of artists working with
scientists and game designers to transform problem-solving and memory skills into brain-training
games. She is the illustrator of the first three books (Escape This Book: Titanic; Escape this Book:
Tombs of Egypt; and Escape This Book: Race to the Moon) in the inventive, interactive Escape This
Book! series, which has been translated into eight languages. PICTURE DAY, her first of four graphic
novels in the Brinkley Yearbooks series, will be published in the summer of 2023. She lives in
Portland, Maine.

Author Links:
Website: https://www.sarahsax.me/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahsaxart
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahsaxart/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18173552.Sarah_Sax
Tour Schedule:
https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2023/05/31/tour-schedule-picture-day-by-sarah-sax/

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