My students are avid graphic novel readers and love this series! They will be excited to read on in this next installment. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

This series is extremely popular with my middle grade readers of books by Telgemeier, Hale and similar. It has even found crossover into the boys on my 5th and 6th grade campuses due to the very realistic scenarios experienced by the kids at Berrybrook Middle School. Like the first two in the series, readers will recognize characters that mirror those at their own schools making the reading much more enjoyable. The “crush” doesn’t get too gushy nor physical in a way that would put this book in a more YA category and reading it is not dependent on having read Awkward or Brave. Highly recommended for 5-8 grade readers who enjoy realistic graphic novels.

A beautiful graphic memoir that is informative and necessary for all people to be aware of. I highly recommend this title.

This was an excellent addition to the series. The Berrybrook graphic novels are phenomenal and I highly recommend them for libraries. From rich art-styles to relevant character issues, they are a fantastic read for all ages.

This is the 3rd book in the "Awkward" series and I think it's one of the best for middle grade readers. Svetlana's artwork captures emotions so well. Her characters are diverse. And they experience life as many kids do. They are relatable. It's a great series and I look forward to more in the series or just more by her.

Fun book. It was a pleasure to read. .

I loved this book just as much as I love all of Svetlana Chmakova books! I read this book with my 10 year old...who absolutely loves all of Svetlana Chmakova books. He said it was just what he wanted to read before he goes into the 6th grade! Quirky and funny, Great read for a pallet cleanse!

4/5 stars!
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A charming and funny entry in Chmakova's series. I loved that this was from the POV of a brown boy and addressed current topics like cyberbullying. This is going to fly off the shelves.

Third volume in a series, although you don't need to read the first two I highly recommend it. It's so adorable and such a cute and heart warm reading. The author talks about serious stuff without leaving the reader feeling bad or with heavy thoughts, you know? It's sweet and an adorable story. This is definitely my favorite of them all, I loved Jorge and Liv.

Svetlana Chmakova has written yet another wonderful middle grade graphic novel. The third book covers Jorge, a sweet boy who accidentally develops a crush even though he is really irratwd that everyone else seems to have one. His friends are hilarious and supportive even though they have some issues, or crushes, of their own!

This was definitely an enjoyable book and was my favorite of the 3 in this series. I won't hesitate to recommend to my students and have already put a copy in my classroom library. Many students will be able to make connections with the characters in this book.

Perfect for YA (and others as well)! :) The characters were true to life, as well as the scenarios. The drawings were terrific, and it read very smoothly. I discovered that this is the third book in this series. Oops! However, that made no difference in my reading pleasure. I will be picking up the others. (3.5/5)

Oh wow, I finished reading this in one shot (despite the way it was displayed as an eArc - with the text on a separate page) - love, love, love the art-style and the storyline and characters lived up to my initial expectations. Cute YA comic! Definitely going to look into the other titles by Ms Chmakova!

If you've read Chmakova's earlier books, Awkward and Brave, you know what you're getting into. Chmakova captures the crazy, mixed up emotions that are your first crush. Jorge is a big guys who uses his size for good, often busting up bullies picking on others who aren't Jorge's size. But his size advantage means nothing when he can hardly string together a sentence around Jazmine, a cute friend in the drama club. The two eventually pair up and things go from there. Chmakova's adorable cartoony style perfectly captures the confusion and excitement of first love.

3.5★
“If you can’t use your sports skills to win and have to resort to verbal abuse and insults on my field, GET OFF MY FIELD!”

Middle school is hard. Being a new teenager is hard. But this is easy. An easy-to-read, easy-to-understand graphic novel that covers a lot of issues. Boys, girls, non-binary (one mention); extroverts and shy kids; sports jocks and bookish nerds; big guys and little kids; popular kids and loners; pale, medium, dark kids; blondes, brunettes, redheads, headscarf.

And names from around the globe: Jorge Ruiz (our hero), Olivia (Liv – Jorge’s best friend), Jazmine Duong (shy, quiet, and Jorge’s first crush), Zeke, Garrett, James, and a host of others, including Mrs. Rashad. Mrs Rashad is also the sports coach and the one who made the earlier remark about GET OFF MY FIELD.

Kids bounce around the hallways, open lockers, eat lunch together or alone, and most importantly, occasionally bully each other. Jorge is a big kid, and he doesn’t like bullying. When he calls it out, the kids call him the Sheriff. It’s a joke, but his interventions work.

When he meets Jazmine, he is surprised to find himself tongue-tied and blushing. You can guess where the story goes. It’s a long book, so I’ll just copy a few excerpts here to give you an idea. I’m not spoiling anything by saying it has a happy ending, but you probably figured as much, eh? 😊

Thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press for the preview copy from which I’ve pinched the pictures.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Jorge, “the Sheriff”, breaks up boys ganging up on a smaller boy.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Jorge shoots hoops and says that sports is simpler than middle school.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Coach (Mrs) Rashad reads the kids the riot act about verbal abuse.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Jorge realises he’s got a crush and gets so flustered he misses a passed ball.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Garrett explains to Jorge he hangs out with another guy so he can be part of the in crowd.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Mrs. Rashad makes sure the kids understand that they are in charge of their bodies.

My Goodreads review includes a screenshot captioned:
Jorge is upset because someone hacked his social media account and made nasty remarks about friends.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Don't tell anyone, but my middle school self has a huge crush on Jorge. I can't help it. He's sweet, honest and exceptionally kind. He’s an athlete but not into toxic jock culture. Alas Jorge already has a crush on someone else.
Seriously, this book captures the essence of the tumultuous time of adolescence. It's all completely believable. I love how earnest Jorge and Olivia are about making their school a safe place. Sure there are the usual insecure, nasty jerks, one of whom is near to them. but ultimately these are great kids with good teachers.
Now I have to go back and read Brave, the second in this series. I am loving this high caliber graphic series. If you haven't read them yet, I encourage you to find and read Awkward, the first one. You too will be hooked.

Crush is another outstanding book by Svetlana Chmakova. I enjoy meeting her characters and falling in love with them! Jorge is a young man with such a good heart, trying to be a good person. Thank you Svetlana and please keep writing more books!

This book crushed it. One doesn't need to have read the other two books in this series to enjoy this one. Crush is a lovely and relatable story about friendship and first crushes. The author does a fantastic job at capturing the trials and tribulations of surviving middle school through its expressive illustrations and Jorge's thoughts and actions. Jorge is a kind kid who is just trying to understand these new feelings he is having towards a girl in the drama club while wanting his best friends to just get along already. This book is funny, adorable, sweet to its core, and just a whole lot of fun to read. An excellent choice for fans of Raina Telgemeier.

Another great read from Svetlana Chmakova! This one covers a lot, from crushes to consent to gossip to cyberbullying to forgiveness...really, the crazy social circus that is middle school. I love getting glimpses into the lives of all of these characters throughout each book Chmakova writes and I hope we'll get more in the future!

Everything Svetlana Chmakova writes and draws is adorable, awkward perfection. This newest volume in her ouevre is no exception.