This was a cute little graphic novel that will likely appeal to upper elementary and middle grade readers. While this book focused on a science fair project, it added a layer of talking about anxiety and how chronic anxiety can affect someone in their day-to-day life. I appreciated seeing this side of anxiety explored in characters of this age but I also appreciate that readers will see how anxiety is handled in this book. As a reader who had undiagnosed anxiety through my childhood, I know reading this graphic novel would have helped me learn some strategies to navigate my anxiety.

As someone living with anxiety since middle school, I can only say that I wish I had this book when I was first diagnosed. The portrayal of anxiety throughout this graphic novel is realistic and informative without being unnecessarily heavy. I love the different techniques illustrated here, and I recommend it to anyone (not just middle schoolers).

I really appreciated the anxiety representation in this book! It’s so important for middle schoolers to feel seen in the books they read, and I hope that this can help someone who feels alone and overwhelmed.

The friendships in this story are so important, reluctant as Dawn was to let anyone else into her circle. Her friends encouraging her to try new and anxiety-inducing activities as an exposure therapy was a really interesting way for the characters to support each other.

Therapy illustrated on the page was great to see, and I hope will go a long way to normalize it in the eyes of the youth this book is aimed towards.

Smells Like Trouble was a great read. I had my daughter read it as she has social anxiety as well as general anxiety. She felt like it really showed how anxiety really is to people and great strategies for dealing with anxiety.

Thank you, Center for Responsive Schools, for the advance reading copy.

This graphic novel explains about anxiety, and I think hints towards multiple personality disorder and how younger children can experience and how to find those symptoms in younger generations and how you can overcome the anxiety that children can have for owning up to authority all going through a hard time this can be seen in the voiding school and I think that’s a powerful message to have is to be able to do picked how younger generations can be very anxious, and how dealing with them with a light hand and being caring is very important

I really enjoyed read this book. I like how it showed you can work though fears and anxiety with help and support of people around you.

Rating: 4.75 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley and Center for Responsive Schools for providing me with an e-ARC of this comic.
The portrayal of anxiety throughout this graphic novel for middle school students is absolutely incredible. The details of the critical matter and how the main character, with the aid of her friends and family, overcame it.

Smells Like Trouble centers around a character who struggles to overcome anxiety. Her friends decide to help her as they work on a class project, but her anxiety leads her to make a terrible mistake and possibly risk losing her friends forever.

I liked the representation of anxiety, however the book’s overall pace is very slow while some of the scenes feel rushed. I know anxiety can make you irritable and frustrated because I have anxiety as well, but after the character screamed at her friends for the umpteenth time and it was resolved with a very lackluster “apology” coupled with an excuse that “it’s so hard” or “you need to xyz in order for me to act calmly,” I got fed up with this book. That is not healthy relationship behavior and acting like that is not excusable just because you have anxiety.

There’s also the issue with the main plot point. Dawn is trying to do new things as exposure therapy, which leads to her borrowing her friend James’s stink bombs to set off. Unfortunately, she panics and accidentally sets one off and in her panic, blames James who gets in trouble. It would have been so easy for them to just explain that it was an accident because they had already decided on using the stink bombs as part of the science fair project anyway. This being a big issue where everyone gets in big trouble and has a big fight was beyond the simple illogical process of anxiety, it was a huge plot hole. The teachers act like they murdered someone and immediately jump to pin it on the black child, but there’s barely any discussion that everyone blowing this up into some big crisis is what exacerbated Dawn’s anxiety.

Overall the story all works out and there’s a happy ending, but I don’t know if I’d recommend this as a read, perhaps a therapist might be able to use it as less boring example material to teach kids about coping skills and therapeutic techniques.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

i have social anxiety so i really related to dawn in this book! it truly showed how it feels sometimes, even when it may seem irrational. i appreciated how patient and understanding cassie was. the art style was a little underwhelming for me because i thought it was gonna be more “3d” feeling like the cover was but it ending up feeling quite flat and quickly sketched kind of? would recommended for the story though for sure! especially to those who don’t have anxiety and want to know what it feels like.

This was a quick and wholesome read that has a good portrayal of anxiety from the protagonist, showing a variety of ways that anxiety can manifest in daily life. I liked that the story showed how challenging it can be to overcome anxiety, but also that it is possible to improve and face those fears with the right support from family and friends. I believe this will be a good book to have in schools to help children in a similar situation.

Thank you for sending me a copy of this graphic novel in exchange of a honest review. I read this in one siting i enjoyed it so much. It deals with the subject of anxiety very well and i will definetly get a copy and recommend to friend when it comes out. The main character dawn challenges her fears while making a new friend along the way.Worth the read

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this eBook.

Smells Like Trouble is a very good book to introduce middle graders to anxiety and how challenging it can be, especially for young kids.

Smells Like Trouble by Marta Tedry is a great book for tweens/teens to learn about anxiety and what it looks like in a funny and relatable way. I loved how honest Dawn was with her thoughts and feelings, and ways to work through anxiety were provided in a natural way. It was also nice to see the benefits of therapy and to have it normalized. I rate this a resounding 5 stars.

Thank you to Center for Responsive Schools, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and Members' Titles for providing me with an ARC.

Smells Like Trouble by Matra Tedry, illustrated by Micah Amundsen. Avenue A Books, Center for Responsive Schools, 2022.
Thank you Avenue A Books for providing an e-book copy through NetGalley.

Rating: 1-5 (5 being a starred review) 5
Format: E-Book Graphic Novel
Genre: Middle Grade Realistic

Synopsis: More than anything, Dawn wants to compete in the Science Fair with James, her best friend and the practical jokester of the school. However, Dawn suffers from chronic anxiety, making it almost impossible to do “basic” social activities like eat in the cafeteria, stand out at all, or make eye contact with someone greeting her. Luckily, James understands this and takes the attention off of Dawn, so the two make a good partnership. Or so it seems, at the beginning. Over the school year, James hangs out with his own friends during lunch, leaving Dawn alone to interact with the new girl, Cassie, who is way too interested in Dawn’s life for her anxiety to deal with. As the deadline for the science fair approaches, Dawn’s anxiety rises, even as she tries desperately to tackle it, causing an accident that permanently bans James from competing in the fair. Can Dawn fix everything before the deadline, or will her anxiety keep her from living the life she wants?

What I Liked: Smells Like Trouble is an excellent representation of anxiety disorder and all the symptoms that kids can experience in their daily school life. The comic is very well done, informing the readers about mental health issues and how they directly affect people through a first-person narrative. The story works because it doesn’t blame Dawn for her anxiety disorder, but it does hold her accountable for when she messes up. You can tell that the author did her research, talking to therapists and child counselors on how anxiety manifests in middle schoolers, and what students can do to live their lives. The characters Dawn, James, and Cassie are also fully developed and feel real, the side characters always add to the story (especially Dawn’s therapist and sister), and the art is stylized and fun, appealing to a middle school/early high school audience, while also dealing with serious mental health issues. Dawn and James are people of color, and Cassie is white.

What I Didn’t Like: Nothing!

Personal bias. I have lived with people who have anxiety disorders and I resonated with James and Cassie many times because I was in those situations before, but I also felt for Dawn. She taught me what my friends go through on a daily basis and helped me reflect on how I can be a better friend for them.

Who Would I Recommend This To: Middle schools and high schools libraries and public libraries. Any student who also has anxiety, or anyone who wants to see mental health issues represented in stories and comics. Hey Kiddo by Jarrett by Krosoczka, I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly, Guts by Raina Telgemeier, or New Kid by Jerry Kraft are good read-alikes.

Review Date: October 24th, 2022

This was a cute graphic novel about a girl living with anxiety and learning to challenge herself. I like that anxiety wasn't presented as a choice and it was more so something that took over her body on its own accord.

I have yet to read a book focusing on anxiety where the main character doesn't annoy me, but I suppose that's the point. Anxiety may be annoying to outsiders, but it's not a conscious choice those with anxiety are making.

This was a fantastic graphic novel! I love the relationship that Dawn and James have together and I love that they accepted Cassie into their group.

This is a fantastic book for the young and the old to help people understand what it is like to live with anxiety and the day-to-day struggles people with anxiety can face.

Highly recommend this book to everyone!!

“I have an anxiety disorder. In other words, I am afraid of a lot of things. “

This graphic novel is a great representation of what’s like to have anxiety problems in junior high school.
The story is fun but also educational, it makes us understand how stressful it can be to face a normal school day.
The protagonist Dawn, however, will be able to face a stressful event thanks to her friends. This, in fact, is above all, a story of friendship.
I also appreciated the advice given to Dawn by the doctor.

Thanks NetGalley and the author for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

It is a great book for young teens who are struggling with anxiety. I adore the graphic novel to pieces. With much attention and consideration, anxiousness is depicted. This book will offer you some innovative techniques to try and assist you in overcoming your anxiety or phobia. The conclusion is crucial.

Thank you Netgalley and Center for Responsive Schools for providing me a copy of Smells Like Trouble!

First of all, thank you Micah Amundsen and Marta Tedry for creating this wonderful graphic novel. Smells Like Trouble does a fantastic job of depicting chronic anxiety, especially in such an accessible way that children will understand and/or relate to. I also love that they showed Dawn using emotion regulation strategies!! As an occupational therapist, I feel like this book is a tool that I can use for children who are visual learners.

As for the illustrations, absolutely beautiful! I love the spot-on expressions, 90s cartoon style of drawing, and the diversity of the characters! If one thing could be improved, it would be the cover. There is so much good stuff happening in the book that I feel like the cover does not fully represent it.

Overall, Smells Like Trouble has a special place in my office, and I will highly recommend it to my colleagues when it is out on December 2022!

This book contains great representation of how debilitating anxiety can be for some may people. I really enjoyed the way that this was made accessible to young readers in an easy to understand format. This can help them to understand their peers better and know that anxiety is a normal thing.
The characters were lovable and the illustrations were really nice. An overall great book for a younger audience.