Charlie is having a hard time adjusting to her new arts school when she is recruited for the brand-new (well, it will be brand-new if they can get another member) basketball team, the Avant-Guards. But Charlie has a lot of baggage about her history with basketball, and she's going to take some convincing to pick up the sport again.

This is a sweet, gentle story about friendship, crushes, and women's basketball, particularly club sports at a school with an arts focus. The LGBTQIA+ representation is diverse and well integrated into the story. Racial diversity is present on the page but not discussed. I do wish there was a little bit more about the actual basketball-- I was as surprised as the coach when they turn out to be pretty good-- but overall I really enjoyed this gentle, feel-good read.

I had been eyeing this comic book for a while and I was so happy to get the chance to review the bind-up first volume in advance.
This was a very cute read. The artwork is very nice and I loved the palette of colors they used, it was such a nice choice.
The story is funny and cute. This basketball team is composed by a group of weirdos, as Charlie says, but they’re definitely a lovely group of weirdos who deeply care for each other and who support one another. The representation in this comic book is everything we deserve and more, I was so happy to see that.
My favourite parts were definitely the one where they all try to convince Charlie to join the Avant-Guards basketball team and also the one where they play against the team who had puppies at the game, they were adorable!
When it comes out I’m surely going to check out the second volume.

I enjoyed this book. It was about this girl named Charlie that is a transfer student at an Arts College. The school has never had a basketball team and are looking to create one. The team is called Avant Guards and they need just one more player to make the team. So, they try to convince Charlie to join the team. Charlie has some reservations based on her past experiences and is reluctant to join. It’s a quick read that I see is geared towards 6th graders and up.

Charlie has just transferred from a State University to an (all-girls?) arts college after a not-so-great anxiety filled two semesters. She comes into the new school year jaded and with no friends. Luckily, the plucky Olivia decides Charlie is definitely the one person the school needs to complete their first ever Basketball team- the Avant-Guards- whether Charlie wants to be or not.
This is a very cute and fun start to a graphic novel series. The cast is racially and ethnically diverse, with heavy LGBTQ representation. The characters are distinct and each uniquely charming. Though Charlie is very much in her shell in this volume, I suspect I will like her more as the series continues. I appreciated that readers were not expected to know much about Basketball and jargon was kept to a minimum. My only complaint is that the characters occasionally appear stiff/awkward in the action/basketball scenes, but this is a minor distraction from an otherwise great Young Adult graphic novel.

I received this graphic novel from the publisher as a free Advanced Reader Copy through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and to assist in my Library Collection Development responsibilities.

I loved this book. It reminds me a lot of Lumberjanes, Giant Days, Heavy Vinyl, etc. The story was great, the characters were likable and dynamic, and the art was really well done. I can't wait till the next volume.

The art style was pretty good, I loved the vibrant, fun colors though. Storyline wise, it fell flat with the rampant stereotypes and cliches. I liked how chill the opposing team was, but having only one practice would not make the avant guard team work that well together, let alone destroy their competitors. Generally it isn't a unique story, yet, hopefully the next volume brings things back down to earth and gives the characters some more depth. I love tiffany though, she is awesome!

Very cute! I'm really enjoying this sudden profusion of queer-friendly children's comics (this series falls very much in the same vein as Goldie Vance, Lumberjanes, and Backstagers, and Fence, Zodiac Starforce, and Heavy Vinyl on the slightly older end). I have to say I expected there to be slightly more basketball in The Avant-Guards -- the first volume is mostly relationship drama -- but it's not necessarily a bad thing to focus on the interpersonal aspect more than sports. Volume one ends on a sudden cliffhanger, so readers beware!