Great graphic novel about blended families and understanding. Hand to readers who previously enjoyed Measuring Up, Twins, and Click.

This graphic novel is a great read for younger graphic novel lovers. It combines emotion and humor and highlights how changes are sometimes tricky to deal with.

I am so sorry that I cannot do a review. I read this book for consideration for the Schneider Award. While I am allowed to give starred reviews, I cannot give analysis reviews. But thank you for allowing me the chance to read it!

Jen has been uprooted from her beloved city life after her parents divorce. Now she is living at Peapod Farm with her mother and her mother's new boyfriend, Walter. She reluctantly takes care of chores on the farm, including caring for the chickens and helping at the new family's booth at the weekly Farmer's Market. When Walt's daughters come for a visit, Jen feels even worse when the daughter closest to her age is a smart, boastful know-it-all, and insists on playing up her talents and skills and belittling Jen's. Jen finally connects to the youngest sister, and even though she doesn't find happiness in country living, it at least becomes bearable.

Jen is such a "real" character - I think many kids will identify with her in regard to decisions made by parents. I also like how things did not work out perfectly for Jen because that is simply life. Jen did find a way to survive, and the author's note at the end was a strong hand reaching out to kids who are thrust into situations they would rather not be in.

Great realistic fiction graphic novel to add to any library collection with readers who love Terri Libenson's and Raina Telgemeier's work.

My favorite illustrations were Jen's drawings! Graphic novels are always a hit in the library. Excited to have more quality ones being published.

I am a Lucy Knisley fan, and I'm excited that she's writing graphic novels, in her autobiographical style, for middle graders. This is her first middle grade book, a fictionalized story of her life when she and her mom moved to a farm with her mother's boyfriend. In the story, Jen is not happy about leaving her life in the city to live on a farm with her mom, her mom's bossy boyfriend, Walter, and Walter's two daughters, Andy and Reese, who spend every weekend with their dad. Jen thinks Andy is bossy and a know-it-all, like her dad, and Reese is weepy and cries for her mom. Gradually, the three girls become friends - stepsisters, even - as they start talking and discover that they're not worlds different, after all. An author's note gives readers the real details about Lucy Knisley's farm years, complete with photos. Her storytelling style makes readers feel like they're reading her journal or diary; her artwork is cartoony realistic, perfect for Raina Telgemeier and Victoria Jameson fans. You'll love the farmer's market scenes, where Jen finally asserts herself and owns her talent, and the nature scenes make you realize why Jen's mother packed up and left the city for greener pastures. Pick up Stepping Stones if you've never read a Lucy Knisley book before, then look up her other books for yourself.

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley is another excellent graphic novel for middle grade readers. The story is told by Jen, living on a farm with her divorced mother, and not happy with being out of the city. Her dislike is compounded by a step family that she has to learn to get along with. The art work is very pleasing as is the text.

Life can be hard as a tween, and Jen and her family are a perfect example of a modern step family. Initially, Jen and her mother move to the country to live on a farm with her mom's new boyfriend. Things get even more complicated when she has to learn farm chores and help her new stepsister learn all about the farm. This book is honest and clear about the struggles blended families face. It also uses rich characterization to show readers all the viewpoints and challenges each family member faces. This will be a cherished graphic novel in all libraries!

A cute story about a girl named Jen who moves to the country to start a farm with her mom after her parents divorce. Her mother's boyfriend annoys her and Jen finds it difficult to get along with his two daughters, who visit on the weekends. After a few bumps in the road she finds that having part-time sisters aren't so bad and that farm life can be fun.

I really enjoyed the story and love, as usual, the art. Another great read from author Lucy Knisley!

This was an enjoyable middle-grade graphic novel, and a fictionalized auto-biography. Jen has just moved from NYC to a country farm with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. The plot, therefore, is focused on Jen adjusting to raising chickens and other farm work, as well as adjusting to her new family members.

Her mom’s boyfriend, though, is the worst! I was sad her mom didn’t stand up for her much either. I was upset that they didn’t show any character growth over the course of the novel but I see now this is listed as the first in a series so hopefully they’ll get better in later installments.

The three girls, though, showed a lot of growth over the course of the story! They learned to work to their strengths, find common ground, and in the end to get along with each other better. I think there were a lot of good morals here for readers to glean. And I liked the introduction to many aspects of farm life - us city kids appreciate it ;-)

Jen and her mother have moved from the city to a rural farm in the country and have begun adjusting to new life with her new step-family. Things aren't easy on the farm -chores are hard work, sharing a room with two new step-sisters is difficult and getting a long with each other is challenging. Jen's perspective on this new way of life is a refreshing take on how children feel, cope and adjust during these hard adjustments.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I like how it shows Jen processing her emotions about moving, her parents' divorce, and her new (maybe?) stepsisters. On the other hand, the two main adults in this book are both kind of horrible. Part of that was probably to show how unfair Jen feels the situation is, but it went way to far in the opinion. It's possible I'm misinterpreting this, but based on the flashbacks we get it seems like the mom left Jen's dad because the dad didn't like nature enough? I get that what we're seeing might be skewed by Jen's perspective and there's probably a lot more to it than this, but that seems like a really weird reason to divorce someone you have a child with. Then there's the mom's boyfriend. He is repeatedly disrespectful to Jen. More than once he calls her "Jenny," a name she doesn't like. He strongly implies he thinks she's stupid. This is not okay. Both the mom and Andy talk about how much a jerk he can be, but no one really does anything about it. Why is the mom not advocating for her child? I expected there to be a scene where the mom called him out or he apologized or something but it never happened. The way the book ends makes it seem like we're supposed to be happy about this family coming together, but I really hope mom dumps the boyfriend Jen is headed for a life of emotional abuse.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I really enjoyed this graphic novel about a girl who is moved from the city and her father to the country with her moms new boyfriend. Well written and page turning.

A sweet little story about the struggles of being a child where the adults keep making decisions that affect you and don't let you have much say. I think this story is really beautiful in how it shows the way the relationships form between characters though I do with that something had changed with Walter as the way he treats everyone is pretty gross and harmful. I wish someone had stood up to him rather than just excusing his behavior.

This graphic novel is certain to appeal to young readers in so many ways. The story of moving to places unknown, as reflected in the story from city to rural, will appeal to those who have had to actually do that. It will also appeal to anyone who has had to adjust to change willingly or unwillingly.
The characters, especially the stepfather, comes across selfish and insensitive, Yet, at the book's conclusion, the relationship between him and the others, reflects adjusting to each other's temperaments and learning to care for each other ultimately. There were so many important messages throughout with which to grapple.
The illustrations were so vivid and the language so well-delivered. There was humor at just the right places and serious dialogue when necessary. It's so important to read the notes at the end which allows the reader to see how Knisley coped with her real life and how happily hers turned out.

For fans of Raina Telgeimer, Lucy Knisley represents a fun story about the changes and growing pains of a new family and a big move. This story is warm and feels like many can identify with the main character and her joys and struggles. The art and story give you a flashback to childhood and its many wonders, and irritations.

I always love Lucy Knisley's artwork, and this did not disappoint on the art-front. Walter was a painful character to read, because it just felt like the most unhealthy relationship and he didn't respect any boundaries. As this is a series, I hope this changes in later books! I did love the growth of Jen's and her "part time sisters" relationship and this book is definitely worth a read, even for that alone.

This graphic novel was heavy at times and was very real. The dad/stepdad is unapologetically harsh and in the author’s note it’s written that this is semi-autobiographical which hits hard. This story drives home the importance of tapping into your inner strength. I would argue this book is a quiet necessity for middle school collections.

This graphic novel follows Jen as she adjusts to moving out to the country and a new way of life. Jen is an artist and her drawings and comics are placed throughout and her notebook indicates the chapters—this was my favorite part about the book. I live when a graphic novel sort of incorporates a multimedia element like showing the character’s art. I also loved all the animals in this and how Jen had to adjust to the realities of responsibility. Her sort of step sister was SO infuriating at first and reminded me of the bossy friends I had when I was a kid. Overall, I thought this was really charming and tackled some prevalent issues for tweens. I can definitely see this being popular.

This was such a cute graphic novel. I really enjoyed the story but I was not a fan of Walter, he never listened to Jen and treated her like she wasn't smart. Overall though I think this would be a good book to add to any collection!