I liked this much better than I expected. I was expecting the message of the book to be much more heavy handed. It's obvious, but it doesn't hit you across the face. I also liked that it has a happy ending, but not a somewhat unbelievable happy ending.

Muddle School is essential classroom reading. It’s humorous and an inviting graphic novel sure to be enjoyed by young readers.

*2.5💎

let me tell u, i think i finally understood that middle grade is definitely not for me lmaoo. i can never enjoy them to the fullest bc i just find them too cringy or childish (ofc, bc it's a middle grade innit).
i thought i was gonna give it a try but *sigh*... it's just too cringy man, eyeroll after eyeroll for me.
i'm not gonna lie, i still found some parts where i found the protagonist funny or at times a bit cute, but it just still didn't work out for me. i suppose whoever loves middle grades would enjoy this one, but Dave's story was definitely not for me :/

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

So, the plot most definitely could have been better, it was a usual story about bullies, and a kid standing up to them, and in the end he wins a leadership award for that, but the way it was presented was quite good, and the bits of pranks in between which the character Dave pulls of on his sister, do add a twist of humor to it, so it was a fun read!
And the illustrations were just lovely!

Lively one-coloured comic for the young readers – anyone else will feel the "woe is me there are bullies" shtick is protesting too much. I did think too that the book might suffer for not fixing on one of the usual themes of such comedy dramas – the school camp makes an appearance, but isn't the major thing, and this turns up to potentially take over but doesn't – when lo and behold a quite surprising storyline came to the fore. The issue of the whole do-over, repeat your life concept could well be new to the target audience, and this will hit home as a result, however brash and broad the initial feel was. Three and a half stars from me.

First of all, I want to say thank you to the author Dave Whamond, Kids Can Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Muddle School is a funny and realistic graphic novel about a new kid at high school. It is about the first days of high school, bullying, self-esteem, embarrassing situations, first crushes, and self-doubt.

One of the reasons why I requested this book was because the author represents bullying, and gives it the attention it deserves. Bullying needs to get more attention so more people start to understand how painful it is for victims to go through that, to survive that, to still live with that trauma.

I consider that this book should be spreaded more through social media, and schools too.

It is about physical and psychological violence. It is about holding onto the things that makes you feel more comfortable in order to calm yourself, to not to panic, to not to fall. It is about anxiety, pain, sorrow, and how a life can be so messed up because of someone who wants to destroy you.

Dave is an imaginative, creative kid. He loves drawing, and this is what is going to save him, along with his new friends. He holds onto the things that give him comfort. He has a dream, and is afraid of even fulfilling it because he has so many insecurities. He is constantly doubting about himself.

"When I got to school, I kept my head down and interacted with no one. I decided to treat high school like I was in prison."

It's a heartbreaking, sad and distressing way to live.

The author represents also how teachers behave with alumns in class. There is a part in the book when Dave is drawing, and well, he is not paying attention to his teacher, but also there is no excuse to tell him, and to treat him, the way that teacher in the book treats him. He humilliates Dave in front of the entire class This is what teachers mustn't do. They can say this in a very different way, because they do know what they can cause: laughters, humilliation. It can intensify the fear of speaking in public, as our main character has it.

He wants to change his life, to restart it from the very beginning he started at that high school.

It is an interesting book full of truths, and issues that should be noticed more in order to prevent them, and to try to help the victims. It talks about many topics.

The characters are very realistic. Dave's character development is huge, and well written.

The artwork is beautiful, and it melts with the concept of explaining this living Hell that are, for some kids, the start of high school. The details are very artistic and rich.

I loved this book!

«Courage isn't about having no fear. It's about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. »

#MuddleSchool #Netgalley

The Short Version: A cute comic about the difficulty kids have fitting in, that’s hampered by a weak plot, extended set up, and doesn’t really deliver on the description.

The Long Version: Muddle school is a comic about a young kid, Dave, who’s the new kid at school. He’s weird and awkward and things don’t exactly go swimmingly for him adjusting to his new school so he uses his friends time machine to go back and change things.

So this graphic novel has several good things going for it. The artwork is solid, the humor will resonate with kids, and there’s a great message about how universal the fear of fitting in is and how when you can overcome that fear good things often happen.

Ultimately though, this falls flat. The blurb describes the time travel element like it’s a central premise to the story. Problem is that the graphic novel is 150 pages long and the time travel element comes in around page 90. What precedes it is a series of unfortunate events that belabors the whole “I don’t fit in!” “Life is so hard!” schtick. It’s way too much set up and exposition. On top of that, the time travel element isn’t really explored. It’s really just an afterthought thrown in to entice readers. There’s really not any coherent plot here, which is a shame because with a good plot this could have been great.

Overall a 2.5 out of 5. It’s got a good message, and has humor I’m sure children will enjoy, but the story isn’t well constructed. It’s a good idea but the graphic novel just feels like mostly filler.

Component Ratings
Idea/Concept: 3.5 out of 5
Artwork: 4 out of 5
Layout: 4 out of 5
Characters: 2 out of 5
Character development: 4 out of 5
Plot: 1 out of 5
Humor: 3 out of 5
Dialogue: 3 out of 5
Pacing: 0 out of 5
Ending: 2 out of 5

Dave is starting at a new middle school and is hoping for a new start. Well, it doesn’t quite happen the way he had hoped. He dresses wrong (thanks mom), falls into a puddle, and is teased. Nope, middle school seems to be the same everywhere. Then he and Chad build a time travel machine, and Dave goes back to that first day and has a do over. Do things get better for him? Great graphic novel showing the ups and downs of middle school. Kids will love this.

Muddle School by Dave Whamond is a funny graphic book about self-doubt, David has to start in a new town in a new school called Muddle, but things didn't want to change for him. Be out of town for camping and have a crush on Lisa make everything harder.
David and his smart friend Chad decide to build a time travel machine to start all again, be a cool guy and stand up the butcher kids. But, is this be enough?

"Courage isn't about having no fear. It's about feeling the fear and doing it anyway"

Thanks to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read Muddle School by Dave Whamond in exchange for an honest review.

My 4th grade students love reading graphic novels and are eagerly anticipating middle school so Muddle School would definitely appeal to them. At first, I didn’t even realize the title was Muddle School and not Middle School. The story was relatable and funny and the illustrations complemented the writing well. Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid would enjoy this portrayal of a middle school experience adjusting to a new school making friends, avoiding bullies and experiencing a crush. It was funny when Dave thought he time traveled and altered the past how he grew in confidence even when those changes never really occurred. The book had a good message about strength in numbers and standing up for one another and not being a bystander. Dave learns that he is in control of his own life and he can make changes just by being positive. Many graphic novelists seem to be going this route of writing memoirs of their own life experiences which seems to be working as kids are gobbling them up!

So basically as someone who doesn’t live in a country where it has the “middle school” part, reading this graphic novel still relates to when i was in primary/secondary in regards to fitting in. However since I’m probably not a target audience anymore for this graphic novel, I personally think it would be much better suited for preteens who just recently started middle/secondary school than people in their mid 20s such as yours truly who is long gone from the education game x)

But look it was a good enough graphic novel for kids/teenagers to check out!