This was a cute middle grade graphic novel. I love the illustrations and the overall message. I definitely recommend it to all ages. “Friendship is nothing if you don’t stand up for each other. “

"Heart of the City" is now a graphic novel! Following Heart as she is the lead in the upcoming middle school play, there is plenty of drama and school shenanigans. Recommended for readers of middle grade graphic novels whether or not they are familiar with Heart already.

Heart tries to navigate middle school. Easier said than done, however, when she's failing math class and doesn't know how to look cool. Her newer clothes become obsolete in the age of hand-me-down fashion, and her mother won't let her get piercings.

Things look up, however, when Heart gets a spot in the drama club and her friend group gets a great lunch table. Sure, she's forgetting her lines onstage and math is still hard, but she has friends to catch her when she falls.

Heart's story is such a delight. She's not perfect, but she is a lot of fun. And new friend Charlotte is my favorite with her love of ghosts, and advanced nerdery.

Totally recommend you all read this one!

This is a Comics collection, not a story. It feels like it skips moment to moment rather than being fluid. I am not someone who finds the character Heart funny. I find her egotistical, naughty and bratty. It’s not a character I would want to be friends with, which made reading this collection mind numbingly boring. I DNFed halfway through and have no desire to pick it up again.

A fun little fast-paced comic that is perfect for middle-grade readers! I loved the work in it, and how cute it was. Definitely recommend it for middle-grade readers who enjoy graphic novels.

Heart Lamar's goal in life is to get honors, fame, and acclaim and she will find any way to do so. She does, at the bottom of it, have a big heart and adores her friends. Acting, though, is her main passion. This collection of works follows a handful of very distinctive arcs in the Heart of the City strip. The first is when she tries to write her guide to middle school. The second is when she gets a lead in the play and struggles with lines as well as a new friend. The third she wants to go to a concert and tries out various jobs. The fourth is finding a way out of detention so she can get to the audition. There's also a teacher strike and Heart getting her ears pierced in there. There are other strips peppered in, sometimes disrupting the flow of the story arc, but when I thought of them like "Sunday strips" it made it a little easier to handle the skips.

Heart reminds me a little of the Nancy comic by Olivia Jaimes. Heart of the City has a new creator and seems to be a somewhat updated comic for the times (full disclosure, I have NO idea about past iterations of this comic). Current references are dropped in the story which has the potential to limit this collection's shelf life. This reads like a collection of comics one might find in a newspaper so they are like four panels at a time unless it's a weekend strip which can go up to about six panels.

My only tiny complaint was that I expected Philly to play a larger role in this. There is definitely a reference to the school facilities not being maintained, but it feels very "any city, USA." My only tiny complaint is that the news interviews a character and it's channel 4 instead of 6 (maybe this is a copy right thing, but 6 ABC is the known news source here).

Overall, it's fun and if you're looking for more of a newspaper syndicated type comic, this is a good option. It's a very solid middle school title featuring all the middle school angst and drama. Not a must have but a highly recommended title if you need middle school stories.

This compilation served as my introduction to Heart Lamarr and her friends since I had never heard of the Heart of the City comics before. I enjoyed the storytelling and especially the artwork. This is a story that I’ll continue reading to my child.

This graphic novel was super cute! I loved the art.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Steenz for this ARC!

AMAZING! I've been a fan of Steenz for a while now and this does not disappoint. At once enjoyably nostalgic for older forms of comic storytelling and refreshingly contemporary. I would have loved this as a kid even more than I loved it as a reluctant grownup.

Adorable! Extremely cute and heartfelt book!! Full review was published on my instagram but I'm unable to find it and copy it here.

The story and illustrations of Heart Takes the Stage were both wonderful. This was great graphic novel and I am looking forward to reading more from Steenz.

🌟🌟🌟💫
This was adorable but I have to admit, I had to take Heart in parts so I didn't read this all at once.
She is cute, overly dramatic, witty, and someone who captures your...well...heart for lack of a better word.
Half star for the star trek references!!

This was a very cute funny graphic novel, I've never read anything from the author before and it was a good surprise.

This was surprisingly funny and sweet, the author's style works great with the plot and fits amazingly.

It’s nice seeing the characters development and aging. Overall a great and an entertaining story with fun characters and peculiar situations.

This is a pretty cute newspaper comic! Personally I prefer to read strips like this in the typical 4x1 format rather than 2x2, but with how much the Big Nate books get checked out at my library, I think most people prefer how convenient this size of book is to hold. The tiny little Gargoyles arc was pretty funny, there's some deep cuts for the nerdy readers around, and I think the protest arc will be really important for kids to see!

I swear I had this graphic novel added to my Goodreads tbr forever ago with the cover and everything. And it was supposedly already released? But now I can't seem to find it again. And that might explain why I haven't been able to find it at my library or any online retailers. Fortunately, for me, it was 'read now' on Netgalley.

Heart Takes the Stage reminds me a lot of Kayla Miller and Raina Telgemeier. The characters are fun. I couldn't stop laughing. The colors are bright. And the message of true friendship and other life lessons are scattered throughout the fun stuff. I admittedly have never heard of this comic before but I'm definitely interested in reading more. My biggest critique is that the storylines seemed to jump around instead of always going in order. But it didn't take away from overall enjoyment.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with a review copy.*

Heart takes the stage was a cozy story about a girl who wants the lead in a play and how she navigates school. I loved the comic strip style and the characters that supported Heart along the way. I related to Heart as a young girl growing up I too was a dreamer and it was refreshing to see her on page. It was a fun read I finished it in one sitting.

I’d never heard of the Heart of the City comics before so this collection was my introduction to Heart Lamarr and her friends.

I liked Kat.

“Friendship is nothing if you don’t stand up for each other.”

I also liked nerds Charlotte and Dean. Their problems are understandable, like worrying that the other is nerdier. And Charlotte’s dog is called Ripley, so you have to love her for that.

The thing is, though, I didn’t like Heart.

“Sorry to interrupt this weird-off, but let’s get to how your skill can help me.”

In this collection, Heart really wants to get her ears pierced. She also wants a part in the school play.

She also attends a sleepover, babysits and hosts a Halloween party. I found Heart most relatable when she was binge watching TV.

I loved the fortune telling bread and I may need to join the Atlantic Paranormal Society.

I would probably want to hang out with Heart’s friends again but I’m not especially keen on crossing paths with her.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this collection. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

A fun look at life as a middle schooler. I loved that each member of Heart's little circle was different. I also loved the complete obliviousness of Heart on occasions, especially when Kat was trying to tell her she didn't like boys.
The art was very cute and all the different subjects that were covered are definitely things my tween is already going through
I also loved all the little pop culture references

Just like the name suggests, Heart Takes the Stage is packed full of heart and wholesomeness. You follow Heart as she takes on the stage while navigating her friendships and other adventures like helping your friend pretend they are related to a celebrity.

Writing a punchline for every page is not easy, but Steenz does it really well. I feel like I would have really enjoyed these books when I was in middle school. It got really nostalgic reading this book, especially the story about Heart getting her ears pierced.

Overall, a fun read and a great choice for middle-grade readers.

Heart Takes the Stage is a fun comic! It really dives into the life of a middle school girl and her group of friends. There was a storyline, but sometimes they did get interrupted by some standalone strips. Some of the storylines did seem to end abruptly which did leave an overall choppy, disjointed feeling to the whole story.