The story and art are solid and it's a fast-paced read.
The arc and outcome was predictable, and younger readers (middle-grade) might enjoy it more than than the intended age group (YA).

Absolutely could not stand the art style of this book. All of the characters felt flat (maybe because none of them had noses)

The colors and style of this graphic novel are so eye catching and dynamic and the storyline just adds to the charm. A great addition to any school library, this is a fun relatable book.

4.5 stars

A cute story about the friendship and growth of Noah and Azarie but also focusing on how their parents affect them and cause them grief regardless of their good intention (there’s no romance). The art style is very cute especially the cover art for the chapters and the text messages. My only criticism about the art is that the side profile look a bit weird and too long compared to their bodies. The fashion of the characters were adorable and stylish.

Overall, I really loved this book for the story and the art style. The only issue I had for the story is the timeline, it was a bit hazy. I loved the friendship of Noah and Azarie and their decisions to do whatever made them happy without hiding it and what others think.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

Noah feels like he is at his best when he is designing costumes and even wants to make a career of it. Convincing his parents that it can be a viable future seems impossible though.

Azarie, daughter of strict parents and friend to the most popular students in school, revels in her secret hobby of reading comics and dreams of being an actress.

When the two cross paths they cook up a scheme to make a cosplay outfit for Azarie though their families and social circles would never approve/understand.

This was a cute graphic novel that I will likely add to my middle school library. When I look at it from the perspective of a young reader, I would likely give it a smidge higher rating. For me, it was a solid 3 stars. I enjoyed the overall theme, but do think the idea that art is an unstable career that parents hold in contempt has been written time and time again. Even so, I will certainly recommend it to fans of Raina Telegemair and similar authors.

'Needle and Thread' by David Pinckney with art by Ennun Ana Iurov is a graphic novel about living the life you want instead of the one you are supposed to have.

Noah is not much like his parents, including liking sports. They want him to become a medical professional and help people like they do. Noah's dream is to sew costumes for movies. Azarie is socially about as different from Noah as can be. Or at least that's what it seems like. Azarie's dreams are also different from the ones her family wants. Can these two different people help each other.

I really liked this story and the message it has. These are likeable characters. I didn't like the art as much but it grew on me over the course of the story. This would be a good read for younger readers who feel like they don't fit in.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Maverick, Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I've been fascinated by the recent trend of fashion as it's connected to cosplay. Where once cosplay was a weird thing that desperate nerds engaged in, now it is recognized as a legitimate skill worth applauding. Now, apart from the cosplay element, this is a pretty standard exploration of kids dealing with parental expectations. Both sets of parents express pretty extreme disapproval of the hobbies and interests of their kids. Noah's parents push him towards an interest in sports and a future in medicine, treating his sewing as a hobby that he will grow out of. Azarie's parents dictate every element of her life - her friends, her clothing, her behavior. The characters are pretty straightforward, the parents lacking in complexity.

Needle and thread is about a pair of unlikely friends who work together to try and create the life they have always wished for. Thus, they embark on a cosplay journey.

I found this graphic very well suited for Tweens and crafty tweens specifically. It was such a sweet story about friendship and what we can achieve if just one person believes in us before we believe in ourselves. A great story about finding the courage to do/be what makes you happy and friends that help shape us.

**Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story of a middle-class boy who wants to be a costume designer and a rich girl who wants to be an actress. Neither of their parents will listen and they think their lives are not their own... So they band together to do cosplay. (Of course they do...)
Definitely, a YA graphic novel, with the usual "follow your heart" trope.
It was cute but not for me. Pages of "conversation" between the characters that were just them texting show what is wrong with the new generation. People have forgotten how to talk, how face-to-face interaction works.
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read the arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

The story of a middle class boy who wants to be a costume designer and a rich girl who wants to be an actress. Neither of their parents will listen and leave their career choices up to them. So they band together to do cosplay. This is a very much a story for tweens. There's whole chapter that is just drawn pictures of a phone being held while the characters text among each other. I found this infuriating. Comics are supposed to be a mix of story and art. Lets talk about the art. To put it mildly it's not good. The artist can't draw noises so she just punts on them. No one gets a nose. Only a little bump out if they are in side profile. There are some great elements about friendship and middle school readers will probably like this a lot.

First of all, everything about this graphic novel is adorable. From the cute, sketch-like art to the deep friendship that grows between Noah and Azarie as they both learn to be true to themselves and stand up for what they want.
It's full of great messages for younger readers while not talking down to them, dumbing down the situations, or minimizing the difficult feelings and choices they have to face down when deciding to follow their own path.
This a book that not only deserves all the praise, it deserves to be shared with readers of all ages.

I went to this graphic novel not really knowing what it was about, and I have to say I quite enjoyed reading it. We follow two teens that are completely different but somehow ended up crossing paths and in the process finding and accepting their true-self. I found the plot of the story to be quite engaging and lovable especially because of the message behind it. However, I had a hard time getting used to the writing style.

How could I possibly not love a story about a couple of teens with well-meaning but super controlling parents who bond over a mutual love of cosplay and cons and all things nerdy? I mean COME ON! This is a perfect story about friendship and growing into your own and learning how to be who you really are.

Noah is a high school senior who dreams of being a costume designer, but his parents are dead-set against his "hobby" being a viable career and pressure him to apply to more traditional colleges and think of a more "reasonable" career. Azarie is the daughter of a politician determined to show a perfect family picture to the public. Azarie is the lead cheerleader and the perfect student, a young woman who's in with the in crowd, and nurses a secret love of comic books and a desire to be an actress. The two bond over their shared interests, and Noah introduces Azarie to his friends, who welcome her into their circle - much to the chagrin of the Mean Girls in Azarie's school social circle, and her image-obsessed parents. When introducing Noah's family to Azarie's, her father insists that Noah and his first-responder parents (a firefighter and police officer) enter through the back door - the racial implications, atop the social, cannot be denied. But more than a story about an image-obsessed family of social climbers, Needle and Thread is a story about embracing your passions, honoring yourself and your dreams, and pursuing a supportive community. Azarie is welcomed into Noah's artistic, cosplaying community and grow with that community's encouragement, while hitting some bumps along the way. Characters are diverse, the story and artwork are interesting and work together to create a full narrative that YA readers will dive into.

This graphic novel contains the heartbreaking reality of wanting to follow your pie in the sky dreams when your parental expectations are more grounded and in line with their dreams and hopes for you. Noah wants to go to an arts college and major in costume design. He's super talented at sewing and works his shirttails off (pun intended) to get accepted to his dream school and dream program by working on a costume to premiere at a comic con. Azarie is held to super high expectation and behaviors set by her pretentious and snobby elitist mayor of a father and her lawyer mother. In fact, her parents don't think Noah is worthy enough to even be her friend since it doesn't fit the family re-election image vibe they need. They don't know about Azarie's passion for cosplay and her dreams to be an actress - she's been practicing her acting skills for years in trying to be the poster perfect model daughter her parents expect.
The two meet at a comic story and hit off a friendship that is one-sided at times, but helps push them both towards their pie in the sky dreams.
I love the trending hashtags in this novel at the start of every chapter. I also adore the social media posts and text message images used on some of the pages - great implementation of social media and technology into a graphic novel.
I LOVE the overall theme of being yourself in this novel. I think most people/students can relate to some aspect or character in this novel. The comic con, cosplay and manga tie ins will be high interest for students.
Of course, being an English teacher - Ms. French was totally my favorite character. I aspire to her level of Cosplay since she themed each period a different novel. That's not anything I think I could ever pull off, but her Hamlet and Lord of the Flies costumes were on point!

Needle and Thread is a great story about a young man's dream to create costumes and a young woman's dream to follow her own heart.

This story took a bit for me to get into, but once I finally got captured it was all or nothing. I seriously loved the story line of following these high schoolers and seeing them develop. They all have difficult journeys they have to make, but all of them geek out together, learn, grow and make epic cosplay costumes! The illustrations were a little weird to me at first, but they grow on you too. This is just an excellent story of art, friendship and personal growth.

This is a real winner for me!

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Couldn't get the Galley to download correctly unfortunately. But I will probably try reading this when it is released in print.

I absolutely adored this graphic novel with all my heart!

"Needle and Thread" follow two high schoolers, Noah and Azarie as they form an unlikely friendship and grow to become the people they've always wanted to be. First of all, Noah as the main character was amazing. I definitely have a soft spot for him because I do decided to pursue Costume Design in college and a lot of the questions/reactions he got from his family and peers was so similar to reactions I received when I was in high school. I loved seeing his confidence and sense of self grow throughout the book as he worked to put together his first costume for a con. I I thought Azarie's story was also really great and I appreciated her growth of character towards the end of the story when she final stands up for herself and what she wanted. She was, by no means, a good friend throughout the the book and it was nice to see her come to that conclusion towards the end. I think Ms. French and Hiroki were amazing and supportive side characters.

The art style was stunning. There were pages with no text and the art along told the full story. I thought chapter nine being told primarily through screenshots and texts/tweets was so genius and the intro panel for every chapter was a great way to continue to propel the story forward.

This book made me feel happy, filled with love, angry (Azarie's father is an actual garbage human) and so many more emotions. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I can't wait to own a physical copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for this e-arc of "Needle and Thread" in exchange for an honest review.

This turned out to be better than I had expected!

Story:
Noah, a school senior, wants to make a career as a costume designer and hence wishes to join a visual arts academy but his parents are opposed to it. Though they are great parents, they feel that it’s not a suitable career for a boy and want him to choose something nobler and socially worthy.
Azarie is the local mayor’s daughter. Coming from a prominent family means that she has to constantly maintain her social image as the perfect daughter of a successful politician. She dreams of being an actress and finding more like-minded friends but her dad crushes both ideas in order to maintain his standing in public so that he can be re-elected.
The story tells us of their efforts to fulfil their dreams.

This is a sweet little story of passion and dreams. There are so many cute things about this book. It was great to see a book show a boy, and a straight one at that, interested in clothes and sewing. Azarie too broke the stereotype by reading comics and being interested in cosplay. I also loved how she was portrayed with freckles all over her body; it was a pleasure to see something so realistic. What I also appreciated was the lack of a romantic connection between Azarie and Noah. Theirs is a story about friendship and it stays that way, unlike so many other books that force a romantic subplot even when a platonic relationship would have been fine. Hiroki, Noah’s best friend, is a fabulous secondary character and brings the perfect amount of joviality and loyalty to the story.

The graphics are good. Some of the panels seemed a bit sketchy, but overall, I enjoyed the illustrations. They weren’t too cramped, and the storyline progressed well through the panels.

The book puts across a clear message of “Be what you want to be, not what everyone says you should be.” It will certainly resonate with readers. The only issue could be that the book is predictable. As an adult, I could easily guess where the story was going and I might have rated it a 4. But as its target audience is teenagers, I need to view the book from their perspective and I think they’ll really connect with Noah and Azarie and their struggles to fit in, to follow their dreams, and to keep up their social image. So regardless of the predictability, I still think the book does a great job in entertaining and educating its main readers.

Thank you, NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet little tale. Obvious moral is a little obvious, but sometimes a moral can’t be stated enough.