One Year at Ellsmere is a beautifully illustrated tale about Juniper who, on scholarship, gets to attend the prestigious Ellsmere Academy for Girls, a boarding school nestled in a strange forest. While she makes a fast friend in her new roommate, Cassie, she makes an even quicker enemy in Emily, a privileged mean girl who serves as the book's main antagonist.

While Hicks does weave some fairy tale stories into the plot, this is mostly a school story about dealing with bullies and your own past. Those looking for a straight up fantasy tale will need to look elsewhere, but if you enjoyed Harry and Draco's bickering, this is definitely the book for you. I can't wait to see more!

Juniper, aka Jun is the first ever scholarship student to attend the prestigious Ellsmere Academy for Girls. Being a regular girl at a rich girl's school is never easy, but at least Jun has Cassie, her kind and bubbly new roommate. Jun's schoolwork is going well, too - something that draws the ire of the school mean girl, Emily. Emily is not used to having her position as top student challenged, particularly not by a scholarship student, and she never misses a chance to provoke Jun. But as Emily's attempts to sabotage Jun escalate and Cassie tries desperately to help, the trio find themselves face-to-face with a legendary presence in the woods outside Ellsmere...

I absolutely loved this comic - the story is a bit familiar, the fish-out-of-water at the rich kid's school, complete with the token mean girl who is seriously just the worst. Seriously, Emily is the absolute worst, we've all known or have gone to school with an Emily and they're just blegh, the worst. Anyway, I loved the relationship between Cassie and Jun - it starts out awkward at first, since Jun is both new and an outsider, but Cassie is so earnest and nice and they become fast friends.. I only wish the story behind the Ellsmere woods was a little more fleshed out, but maybe it will be, if there's ever going to be a sequel....? Maybe? Please?

One Year at Ellsmere takes place at a boarding school. It's a story about friendship and belonging. I truly enjoyed it and felt like it was setting things up to be part of a series.

Arc received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It was okay. Not groundbreaking, I liked the colors and the characters. It is very easy to follow for young readers. However, the fantasy element felt a bit random.

This story was cute, and magical, and something that middle school students will enjoy. I am excited to make this available to the girls in my classroom. I also enjoy that so many teen issues are touched on. This was another great read from Faith Erin Hicks.

I really enjoyed this comic that at first seems like a slice of life in a mean girl infested boarding school, but ends up being a supernaturally tinged story of friendship. The art is unique and wonderfully colorful and the character designs are all fantastic and really capture the characters' personalities. I love how even the main antagonist is humanized by the end too. I would definitely recommend this for someone interested in found family stories and light paranormal hijinks.

With adventure and new friendship, plus a mean girl to deal with, this graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks should do really well with tweens and middlegrade readers, though it isn't as diverse (either ethnically or LGBTQAI+) as the author's other works (perhaps more interesting details will be revealed in the sequel, as Jun and Cassie get older?).

This is a great middle grade graphic novel that I think would appeal to a lot of middle school girls. The art was perfect for the setting with somewhat subdued colors, and the characters all had expressive faces. I only wish that it was a bit longer and that we got to know more about life at Ellsmere.

A nice Faith Erin Hicks book that pits our heroine against one of the cruelest foes: a teen girl. Juniper's struggles matched by her great confidence makes for a satisfying conclusion. I liked that there was mostly just a hint of magic, This was my first time reading this, I didn't read the original version.

I absolutely loved this book! The graphics are amazing and the story plot gives this book a "cannot put down" value. Realistic fiction, social life, humor, fantasy, mystery, friendship and a mean girls type of spin will keep the reader engaged throughout. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, please tell me there's a next one!

A mix of school drama and magic. A new comer learns to deal being an outsider and the pressures of being in a new school. Illustrations are beautiful and characters fun and engaging.

I wanted to like this more than I did. The art didn't live up to what I expect from Hicks, and the story was lacking. I wanted more from this.

Faith Erin Hicks weaves another compelling tale of quirky friendships, this time following a scholarship student attending her first year at a ritzy private boarding school. There’s an undercurrent of darkness at the school. Something lurks in the woods, and the mean girls have it in for our heroine and her gentle roommate. The characters as archetypes are a little played out but Hicks manages the, deftly, still allowing the reader to connect and become invested in the girls and their outcomes.

Loved this book. I am going to pitch it to our Rising 7th summer reading, for a mid-summer option! Thank you for providing me with an advance copy via NetGalley!

I am finding this hard to rate. On the one hand, I have always loved Hicks' artwork, and it did not disappoint me in this story. On the other hand, I felt the story fell flat despite the potential it had!

The story had some good plot lines all except one very random one that distracted me from the story (I don't want to mention it, so I don't spoil the story). I liked the friendship between Juniper and Cassie, and I also do love a good dose of revenge to the mean girls (which this story did not disappoint in that vicinity). Unfortunately, the story seemed a bit rushed to me, and I didn't get the chance to get to know the characters as deeply as I would have liked.

Overall, I believe students will enjoy the story, and I will definitely have a copy in my library!

I received an ARC through NetGalley from First Second. This middle grade graphic novel focuses on Juniper, “Jun,” who is a 13-year-old scholarship student at the prestigious Ellsmere Academy. Of course, the popular star student is out to make her life at the school a nightmare. Jun makes a good friend in Cassie and they are enamored by a mystery in the nearby forest. Overall, a predictable fish-out-of-water story that has the fabulous illustration that Hicks is known for. It is an easy, realistic read with just a touch of fantasy, that I would hope develops in future volumes. Recommended for ages 10-14.

I really enjoyed the setting and characters. The plot was a little too predictable for me but overall it was cute.

Ellsmere is an elite all-girls private school with a reputation for turning out top-notch candidates for ivy-league schools. Juniper comes to Ellsmere by way of scholarship, where she meets Cassie, her assigned roommate. While trying to keep her grades up and compete with others, Juniper and Cassie have several run ins with bully, Emily, who ensnares Jun in some devious plots to get her expelled.

This story has the typical bully you want to hate, and Hicks writes her so well. The frustration and hatred is akin to what Harry Potter fans feel towards Umbridge. Cassie is awesome and I see myself in her in wanting to write about beautiful and fantastical things, rather than that Shakespeare essay they're supposed to be doing. Jun is a cool main character with a lot of confidence and great comebacks for the bully type, especially ones that convey to Emily just how much she doesn't care about other people's opinions. We can all learn a thing or two from her about valuing our own opinions of ourselves over others. I thought this was a cute story with some really sympathetic characters. I'm not sure if there are more volumes planned, but there were some unfinished plot points that could use another volume or two. As always, Hicks' art style is beautiful, and it fully captures this story of adventure at a mansion-turned-girls-school.

First Second rates this book as middle grade for ages 10-14. Even though this story is about girls in high school, I think the content surrounding the bully and the drive that Jun has to go to a good college are themes that resonate well with middle school audiences.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-10

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This is a well written MG graphic novel. It was originally released as The War at Ellsmere, the book has a new look in its colouring and some of the pictures from the first published version 12 years ago. Author Faith Erin Hicks explains some of the differences in the end of the novel and that will be interesting for art lovers. The story has two plot points that we see a fair bit. A clique of mean girls doing their mean things to a very likable girl, and also the girl who is not well understood and has no friends, finding her first. The two roomates at the center of this (the bullied girl (Juniper), and the girl without friends (Cassie) are great characters and are good for each other. Fans of Raina Telgemeier likely missed the original version and I think will respond well to this new version from Faith Erin Hicks, whose The Nameless City trilogy is well loved in my library.

Juniper (aka Jun) is chosen as the first scholarship recipient to attend Ellsmere, a highly prestigious all-girl's academy in a castle. Little does she know that she's about to face one of the cruelest bullies known in all Girldom--Emily. Emily will stop at nothing to ensure that Jun's life is miserable and is intent on getting her kicked out. With help from Cassie, her roommate, Jun faces the full force of Emily's wrath. But will Emily's henchmen and a masterful plot to frame Jun of plagiarism be the end of her time at Ellsmere? And, what of the mysterious white "deer" in the castle forest? Does it really hate it when people are cruel to one another? "One Year at Ellsmere" is a gripping graphic novel that will keep middle and young adults hooked till the last page.