This is a great middle school read about inclusion and acceptance. It discusses many aspects of friendship from picking on each other, to moving away, and then coming together when it matters.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Read for potential aquisition and it’s just not right for my elementary library. On the content side, it’s not too racy for a middle school library (there is one kiss in a bed), but too advanced for my readers. On the critical side, I really didn’t think the drawings in this graphic novel were compelling and there were way too many characters for any kind of plot.

Fun and inclusive book about finding where you fit in and working together. Something to offer the sporty and non alike. I wish there had been more books like this it’s focus on embracing who you are when I was young.

This was so much fun! Thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review. I loved this one. It was hilarious, relatable, sincere, and had such a great cast of characters. Our main character, Faith, loves to draw, has a loving and supportive dad, and decides to join the school soccer team because a popular girl promises they’ll get to hang out... It turns out that little 5th grader Faith is on the C team and the popular girl is on the A team.

Faith finds herself with a crew of girls who have ups and downs in their lives, navigating their identities, and maneuvering how much they do (or mostly don’t) care about soccer.. it was fun to get peeks into different player’s lives and see what other personal exploration was going on for them. You don’t get supreme depth here, it is a pretty short graphic novel.. that being said, the characters were decently fleshed out and still did feel real to me. I also liked the flashbacks in and out of Faith’s own art/ graphic novel that she is creating.. even if I didn’t always understand what was going on ( I feel like that is art/ trying out art:). I really liked this one, appreciated the representation, and the story line of an eclectic girls team is the best... I’ll always go for that. 4.5!

** one note there were a 2 frames that made me say “awww” aloud for the ways in which one person hugs another person who needs a hug in the right way. I love when a graphic novel can show you/model a beautiful moment like that**

A nice story if you are currently in middle school - so, for the target audience - but with out quite so much of the crossover impact that other middle grade graphic novels (Real Friends etc) has on an adult reader.

This was a short and sweet slice of life about the trials and tribulations of being a kid on the school's worst soccer theme. It gives lip service to some themes of diversity and definitely celebrates the uniqueness of girls, but it fails to really achieve any depth which I found quite disappointing. The characters all started interesting arcs, but none of them really felt fleshed out. This feels like a good beginning to a story, but too much was left unresolved for me to feel satisfied.

A really sweet middle-grade graphic novel about finding friends (even if you all suck at team sports). The ensemble cast is diverse in both racial and socio-economic status, and includes a trans boy who is just starting to come out -- his scenes are all very sweet and affirming, they're probably my favorite in the book -- and two girls who are starting to realize that they're attracted to other girls. I think fans of Smile and Drama will be delighted with The Breakaways.

The story is sweet and simple but with intense and important undertones.
The story is all about a group of girls coming together as a 'team' of friends when they realize they need to stop being what others want them to be and simply be themselves.
It's a coming of age, growing up story that incorporates adult issues.

Fifth grader Faith joins her school's soccer team after the most popular girl in school convinces her. Thinking she will spend time with Amanda, Faith is excited to play soccer and become friends. Unfortunately, Amanda lied. There are 3 different soccer teams based on skill and Faith is on the C Team.

Over the course of practices and games, we get glimpses into each girl's life. This was a short, quick graphic novel but it features a diverse cast - both in ethnicities and sexualities. The girls are flawed and real. Some are unlikable at times, but them Johnson shows what is going on in their personal or home life and you feel for them.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed Lumberjanes but wants something more on the realism side.

** I received an eARC from Netgalley. **

Faith is convinced by popular eight grader Amanda to join the soccer team, but when she shows up she realizes that she's been duped and Amanda was only looking for warm bodies to get their C team off the ground. The C team is a mess, with many characters who don't care at all about the team. Over the course of the story, they realize that it's not so much about the soccer (at which they are very, very bad), but the friendship that they're forming. A good additional purchase for graphic collections.

This book is very well done, with wonderful illustrations, powerful lessons, and plenty to relate to whether it's friend drama, boy drama, middle school drama, growing up drama. Lots of drama.

To say that these girls are not the best at soccer is a huge understatement. The MC, Faith, doesn't even know the rules but couldn't say no to the popular older girl doing the recruiting. Their goalie is afraid of the ball, but rocks out in the music room. These girls are all a big huge mess, but, by the end of it their a huge mess together, bonding and having fun in ways that don't involve soccer.

While I did like the great amount of diversity represented in this book, the story, and the look into the lives of each of the girls, there's some things that I felt distracted from the story or made it hard to keep up. One page is entirely in Spanish that my high school and college Spanish classes combined were useless with no translation within. (Great for native Spanish speakers, though, due to the rarity, and comics/graphic novels are a wonderful way for learning English as a second language). I wished that the Latina, Spanish speaking character in question, V, was able to stay through the whole story, because--especially with her one spotlight page being entirely in Spanish--I felt like I didn't get to know her at all.

Nadia, a hijab wearing girl, was also awesome but bringing her in halfway through the story seemed more like checking off a list and also lost a lot of time to develop her character for the audience, not to mention even less time to form a real bond with the rest of the team.

Also, the story within the story--Faith's dream/art world--was okay and did serve a purpose, but, again, felt like it distracted from the main story and hindered getting to know the characters better.

A last thing to mention is that finding books with girls in sports is hard to come by, especially books that focus on girls playing sports and not as an aside 'Oh, she does gymnastics/ballet/cheer/softball/track/soccer/etc.' thing. None of these girls--except Nadia--really, actually cared about the game or actively wanted to improve. As a girl who played soccer from kindergarten through senior year of high school, I would have loved a graphic novel about a bunch of soccer playing and loving girls when I was in middle school because they were so hard to come by. So as a grown woman I appreciate the diversity, the friendships, the strong female characters in this story... but would have appreciated a little more love for the Beautiful Game from the characters.

In short, this is a good story with good lessons and cute art and a wonderful array of female characters, and I know a lot of late-elementary/early middle school girls will love this graphic novel.

A fun and fast read and a very cute book! I was a little baffled in the beginning regarding why anyone was staying on this team (or really the need for anyone to join) but the narrative grew and drew me in! I appreciate the inclusion of a diversity of characters without much commentary on it. If you have a elementary kid to teenager I'd highly recommend this as a great place to start on general open arm acceptance of people, but this comic is a sweet little read for all ages!

This Bad News Bears of Soccer story stars Faith, a child of color who joins her school team at the urging of Amanda, one of the school's popular girls. Thinking it's a great way to make new friends, Faith signs up, only to discover that there are different soccer teams, and she's been put on the Bloodhounds, which is made of up the lousiest players in the school. They may be horrible at soccer, but the group gradually comes together to form a tight friendship unit, and that's the heart of the story.

There's a fantastic diversity among the group. There are queer characters, including one who's transitioning, and characters of color. The storyline is moved forward by each character's quest for identity and acceptance within their families and the group, making for some deeply heartfelt moments. It's a book about friendship, self-awareness, and acceptance, set in a middle school - often a battleground for kids who want to stand out without being "different".

This one's a must-add to your shelves. Talk this one up to your Lumberjanes fans.

The Mary Sue has a great write-up and preview of The Breakaways, and you can visit author/illustrator Cathy G. Johnson's website for more info.

While I didn't completely fall in love with The Breakaways, I certainly think that the tweens in my library will. The cast is diverse and fun (though certain characters do not start off very pleasing) and the idea of being friends trumps winning is a great theme for tweens to be exposed to, so I will definitely be purchasing this title for my library.

I found this to be a quite easy book to read with easy themes that I think young children will resonate with. However, the idea of trying to include all possible minority groups into one graphic novel felt, at best, overreaching and, at worse, offensive for the care and attention that these peoples deserve.

I read an ARC from First Second via NetGalley. This was a fabulous middle grade graphic novel about a fifth grade girl named Faith who joins a soccer team with some older girls. Faith looks at the soccer team as an opportunity to meet people socially. She is on the C team and it has quite an array of unique personalities who are all dealing with their own personal and social life challenges. She is befriended by some teens and sees other teens that seem like outcasts. I felt this was a really honest and current portrayal of middle school issues that aren’t always discussed. There is a broad spectrum of characters. While the art isn’t refined, it doesn’t take away from the story at all. It fits the youthfulness of the story. I found the story empowering for teens because it has a message for them to be themselves and find acceptance. Fans of Drama will like this as well.

The Breakways feature a group of misfit girls on a not-so-good soccer team. The characters were incredibly unlikable at the beginning except for Faith who is sweet and kind and learning to be brave. As the other characters' backstories unfold, you are reminded that you never really know what someone is going through so you should always be kind. This is a great message. However, the kids in this book really aren't kind at all. I obviously have mixed feelings on this one. I did like the diverse cast of characters, and how accepting they finally turn out to be, not to mention that middle school being difficult is realistic, but I was just very underwhelmed. I also didn't love the artwork, but that is a personal preference. I think my problems with this one may be more personal so I would probably still purchase the title for the library for the middle school graphic novel fanatics.

I liked this graphic novel, but I didn't love it. I appreciated the way the team finally came together to support one another, but it felt like Johnson was trying to fit everything into too few pages. There were also times where it felt like it was trying to be so inclusive and progressive that it seemed forced. Most of all, it was frustrating to only see snapshots of certain characters. It was almost as if I would have been happier to only have Faith's POV and skip the little inserts of secondary characters at home that just seemed random and thrown in. All of this to say, it was cute and I would still be able to recommend it to a handful of particular readers that have already decimated the graphic novel collection.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were realistic. The dynamics and plot were good. I liked the artwork as well. Great diverse cast of characters (POC and LGBTQI+). I would hand this to 10 and up.

The Breakaways: Bad at Soccer, Okay at Friends is a middle grades graphic novel. Faith is a brand-new fifth grader who is asked to join the soccer team. She does so because she wants to hang out with pretty, popular Amanda, who also plays. However, it turns out Faith has been put on the C Team, and they legitimately suck-- and Amanda's not even on C Team, but on A Team! Nevertheless, Faith meets the other players and becomes friends, despite how badly the suck at soccer, how different they are, and whatever drama they have going on at home.

This book is a perfect for juvenile fic tween book. The Breakaways features racially and ethnically diverse characters, characters who speak Spanish as a first language, characters who are trans and otherwise on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, characters who live with single parents, characters who live in poverty, and more. And it shows --and can placate-- some of the anxieties new middle schoolers may face in regards to making friends, joining sports, and participating in electives.

The only downside is that the large cast of characters is kind of confusing. Perhaps with readers who are more accustomed to the graphic novel medium, it won't be so confusing, but I had to go back and re-read some bits to keep certain characters straight when instances happened with them later on in the story.