Big Apple Diaries by Alyssa Bermudez is a graphic novel memoir of Alyssa. She grew up in New York and the book takes place while she is in middle school. Her day to day life changes when the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 occurs. While students may not understand this attack as much as adult readers who witnessed it, the troubles of middle school and relationships are relatable to other middle school age students.

This was an absolutely fantastic story that I can't wait to share with my students! I loved the discussions and themes around the 9/11 attacks.

Bi Apple Diaries brings the 2000's into the present for readers to understand. The everyday entries will resonate with readers of today. Crushes, parents, and confidence issues are all tackled in this graphic novel. The illustrations are great in conveying the emotions of the characters. Some of the technology is outdated and may not be known by this generation. Adapting 9/11 into the plot was a nice way of exposing a different point of view.

I'm not sure if I like the color choices, but I'm a big fan of the format. It reminds me of the Amelia books which would have been out when Alyssa was a kid too!

Reading a graphic novel on an e reader is a little challenging but being a journal, it was short and sweet. The story is mostly about Alyssa's feelings including thoughts and strong feelings after 9/11. Alyssa is middle school-aged and the book is definitely written for that age reader as the text is brief and the feelings intense.

I found this memoir not only highly enjoyable but relatable. Along with reminiscing with Alysssa on her middle grade years, I was doing the same with my years, since my childhood had some similarities but most importantly the part about 9/11. A lot of middle grade readers will love the diary format of this story and although it includes references that may go over the young readers' heads, the uncertainty of life and growing up with different emotions are themes that young readers will identify with.

This graphic-novel memoir is being released just in time for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. Alyssa shares her life as a tween in NYC at the beginning of this century. There are so many great details showing fashion, school, and life in the Big Apple. Included is her experience on 9/11/01. Both of her parents worked in or near the twin towers. Since we follow Alyssa's life for about two years, there are ups and downs as well as the typical identity struggles of a girl who is about to become a teenager. I loved the inclusion of the religious and moral instruction from her Catholic school and her fascination with shoes. Give this one to kids who have enjoyed Vera Brosgol, Raina Telgemeier, Cece Bell, Victoria Jamieson, and Jennifer L. Holm.

Thank you to Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Big Apple Diaries is a fun, cute illustrated diary of a seventh grader. As a teacher, I have no doubt my students would love this book. It is relatable to how 11/12/13 year olds really feel and heartwarming. I can't wait to purchase this book for my classroom!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for an early copy in return for an honest review!

With thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for an early copy in return for an honest review.

For our middle grade students, who were born approximately 2008-2013, 9/11 is not something they lived through and so they likely have varying levels of knowledge and understanding of this event. Because of that I think they need varying levels of books to introduce them to what happened on 9/11. This graphic novel style memoir (diary form) does a good job introducing readers to the events of 9/11 from the perspective of a young kid.

I would probably recommend this more for upper middle grade since the story focuses on the main character's 7th and 8th grade years. I also think this book would be a great launching pad for encouraging kids to keep a diary or journal of their own.

I read this with my daughter she really enjoyed it. It was interesting to her about the author’s experience and feelings she felt going through the events of 911. It would hard to live right in the center of the events. It also was fun she include real pictures of her self at the end of the book.

I enjoyed reading about the memories of a young girl growing up in New York City in 2001. Hard to imagine that time period as historical, but it was twenty years ago…. For me, the most interesting parts were the memories of September 11th and after, but any book about New York City in any time period catches my attention.
My only complaint is the way the text was formatted. Some pages were almost unreadable, and none of the illustrations had words where the captions would be, only blank spaces. Of course, I realize (and hope) that this is due to the document being an ARC.
*Thanks to Netgalley for a free digital copy of this book. All opinions are strictly my own.*

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the illustrations and loved the story. This is a wonderful middle grade book

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel memoir, artist Bermudez draws from her middle school diaries to highlight her 7th grade and 8th grade years in New York City, which included 9/11. Young Alyssa goes back and forth between her father's apartment in Manhattan and her mother's in Queens. She likes her school and has friends there, and has a crush on a boy named Alejandro. Her life is fairly normal, and she has typical struggles over being allowed out on her own, completing school work in a timely fashion, and getting along with friends. Things were not that different in 2001, although there are some illustrations of early computer chat rooms or DM platforms: at the time, I didn't have graphic interface on my internet, so I'm not quite sure. What sets this apart from a typical tween story is, of course, the fact that she was very close to the events of 9/11. Her father worked in one of the World Trade Center buildings but was meeting with clients in New Jersey, and her mother was working in an office that had a view of the attacks. Both survived, but had a difficult time getting home, so Alyssa was the last one left at her school, tremendously worried about their fate. Her father bought roller blades and skated 12 miles to get back. Her immediate world didn't suffer many losses, but living in NYC made her acutely aware of what had gone on.
Strengths: As someone who kept journals for almost 40 years, I very much appreciated that the material was drawn directly from Bermudez's own journals. This makes all of the interactions deliciously cringey and realistic, although I hope that modern girls don't care quite as much about boys! It's a great hook to have most of this book be about pedestrian tween concerns, because it brings the devastation of 9/11 closer to home. There is some investigation of her half Puerto Rican identity, struggles with the idea of her father dating, and a very realistic portrayal of tween romance-- sure, she's "going out" with Alejandro, but what really do they have in common? The illustrations are done in black, white, and a sort of purpley-blue that seems appropriately somber. This author has done primarily books for younger readers, but definitely has a deft hand with the middle school voice.
Weaknesses: A little more of the history and politics of the time wouldn't have hurt, but that's easy enough to get from other books.
What I really think: This is a great purchase for historical value; there are probably a few parents of middle school students who are this age, but there will be a lot more in years to come, and this was a great view of the events from someone who was herself in middle school. I was volunteering at the school where I now teach on this day, and I was surprised that Alyssa's school was able to shield the students from the news. Shortly after the first tower was hit, I think all of the teachers at my school had the news up on their computers, and everyone knew something was going on.

This is a lovely graphic novel debut from Alyssa Bermudez which touches on identity, first crushes, friendship, family and events that happened while growing up in NYC in the early 2000s. Looking forward to more work from Alyssa!

A cute illustrated diary of a seventh grader. As an adult, it fell flat for me, but I think it would delight a girl of the same age and I like that it is based on the author's actual diary and her experiences. It would be a good choice for reluctant readers due to the graphics and charm of everyday school happenings.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I received an advance copy of, Big Apple Diaries, by Alyssa Bermudez. This is a great book about going to jr high in New York. This book brings back a lot of memories.

First sentence: It's the first week of seventh grade.

Premise/plot: Alyssa Bermudez shares some of her diary entries in her new book, Big Apple Diaries. This nonfiction illustrated diary (is it a graphic novel or an illustrated diary?) opens in September 2000. She is entering seventh grade. The book covers both her seventh and eighth grade years, 2000 through 2002. It covers school life (friends, teachers, classes, homework) and home life (her parents' divorce, living in two homes, her freedom or lack thereof, her friends, her hobbies, etc.). One of the big topics is her crush on Alejandro, a classmate/deskmate. I should mention, I suppose, it is set at a Catholic School. As the title suggests, it's set in New York City.

My thoughts: I think adults and tweens will approach this book differently--for better or worse. As an adult, when I read the date--September 2000--I was like I bet this book covers 9/11. Emotionally I was already sent a shock wave--is that the right word??? Finding out that her father works at the World Trade Center and that her mother also works downtown, it was another punch. I felt a connection and was invested in Alyssa's story. The target audience for this one would have been born between 2008 and 2011. I'm not sure there will be this immediate connection or concern because they didn't live through this. 9/11 if thought of as all is probably an event in a history book, it doesn't come with mental/emotional baggage.

I don't want you to think the whole book is about 9/11. It isn't. Alyssa is your typical (somewhat typical) tween. The issues she is facing at this time in her life are universal and super relatable. And I think that is important. Readers today can connect with Alyssa still.

I definitely liked this one.

Interesting, but slow, slice of life taken from the author's diaries that she wrote at the time. She changed the names of the mean girls, and probably other kids as well.

The story follows her life at a Catholic private school, with her friends, and her first crush. The story also talks about how 9-11 affects everyone, when it happens.

That, to me, as the really interesting part of the story, and she had to do that from memory, because she didn't write about it when it happened at the time.

After that, it was just trying to decide on what Catholic high school to go to.

I felt for Alyssa, a little. But, I guess I didn't feel anything for the rest of the chracters, which seemed to be stereotypes.

Perhaps I was the wrong audience.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This is cute but it’s definitely more middle school than elementary school. I would not buy this title for my K-5 library.

Based on the author’s diaries, this graphic novel perfectly shows the ups and downs of middle school- the cliques, the shyness, the crushes, worrying about grades, and having a strict parent. Alyssa deals with it all as a typical 7-8th grader would. Everything is fine until 9/11. Once she grapples with the enormity of it all, she and her neighbors start rebuilding the city so it can become stronger. This experience brings everyone together and there is more of a connection and feeling of unity. Great book.