Going into this graphic novel I did not have much knowledge about Tehran and Sara or their music beyond the song “Closer.”
It was still enjoyable and fun without the background knowledge! It is like many of the popular middle grade graphic novels that are slightly fictionalized coming of age memoirs.
It is in a fictionalized modern setting but still has strong influences from the 90s when the artists grew up.
It rings true to the struggles of growing up, sibling (and twin rivalry), going to a new school, identity, and sexuality.
The song writing and learning to play guitar is inspiring to those interested in Pershing music as well.
I would recommend it to folks who liked Bad Sister, Twins, Smile, Real Friends, and Click.

This was a perfectly fine graphic novel for fans of Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle School, but I wasn't quite sure who the intended audience was. While this is a fictionalized memoir of a singing duo formed in 1998, it's set in the present time. I've never heard of the group and don't know that my students have either, so perhaps it is aimed at teachers and librarians who are in their early 40s? The artwork is okay; it looks like Walden usually does YA or adult graphic novels. For fans of the Chloe graphic novels or Simonson's Junior High Drama. Junior High always seems like a 1960s term to me, since few schools of which I am aware are 7-9, and the school I attended in the 1970s was 5-8 and called a middle school.

Tegan and Sara: Junior High was so cute and well-written. I loved the illustrations as well even though my ARC was blurry for some reason. The twins’ story reminded me a lot of my first year of middle school after moving to a new school. I’m not a twin though, so it was sweet to see how Tegan and Sara helped each other through this transition. I will say that I don’t understand why the authors didn’t just make this a graphic memoir. It was an interesting choice to make it set in the present day instead of the 90s, and I felt like some of the pop culture references were forced because of that. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This middle-grade graphic novel is based loosely on the junior high experience of Tegan and Sara. As they enter junior high, the girls vow to stick together as much as possible and make new friends. Both girls are questioning their queer identities and for the first time wondering who they are without the other.

Tegan Quin and Sara Quin have produced an amazing graphic novel dealing with junior high issues many girls experience. I can see that this will be very relatable to preteens experiencing puberty as well as possibly questioning their identity. The illustrations by Tillie Walden pull the whole concept together and are very well done. I highly recommend it to preteens that love graphic novels!

The artwork is amazing but the writing is lacking. While I live Tegan and Sara, the writing was really lacking any depth. I understand this is a middle grade read but it was hard to be excited about it and continue reading and staying engaged in the book.

I absolutely love Tegan and Sara, and have followed them and their music since the early 2000s. I feel so connected to their stories and a lot of the complaints (if you can call them that) I've read is that the book is set in modern times. I don't see this as being an issue, as you can still relate biographical events to a more modern time without loosing the authenticity of the story. I think it's actually better for middle schoolers to have relatable topics in the story rather than have it set in the early 90s, which would be great for readers of my age to experience the nostalgia but would be completely lost or unappreciated in readers today.

Read this graphic novel!!! I enjoy listening to Tegan and Sara's music but I am not a superfan by any means. You do not need to be a fan of their music to fall in love with this graphic novel. This totally transported me back to what it was like to be in middle school. I loved seeing what was going on in Tegan's plot, Sara's plot, and Tegan and Sara's plot. It felt super realistic and I like that they ~modernized~ the references to be more current than when they were actually in junior high. This is a great coming-of-age story about friendships/relationships and identity in all forms. I love that teens and preteens for generations to come will get to grow up with LGBTQ+ stories like this one. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The book was not entirely what I was expecting as a Tegan and Sara fan. If you’re going in expecting the book to be a flashback to 90s middle school angst, expect it to be changed a little! It was still a great middle school book to read especially as it relates to the exploration of middle school crushes.

Tegan and Sara is a mostly autobiographical graphic novel about a pair of pop star twins and their middle school experience. I'm not familiar with Tegan and Sara, so I am probably not the target audience for this title. However, the art style reminded me of Raina Telgemeier, and I had to give it a try. Both girls are relatable protagonists, despite me knowing nothing about them in reality. I enjoyed seeing the dramatic responses typical of tweens, and I feel like this will let tween readers feel seen in their world-ending events that seem so small to adults.

The only complaint I have is of the modernization of the story. The real Tegan and Sara were born in the 1980s and grew up in the '90s, but the book is set in present time. They discuss Stranger Things, texting, streaming services, and the Nintendo Switch. I had to look up their ages and was surprised to discover they're older than me, who grew up in the GameCube era. There's nothing wrong with moving the era, but I think the narrative could have had more depth and originality if they had kept it in the '90s.

(Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for review from Netgalley.)

This one’s a bonus because I read it on April 1, but close enough, right? I might be a bad queer woman (or maybe just too young), but I honestly haven’t listened to much Tegan and Sara, at least not intentionally. What drew me to this one was the illustrator, Tillie Walden, whose style I love. (My partner and I have limited edition prints of On a Sunbeam in our room.) And middle grade graphic novels are always fun.

I thought this was going to be a sort of prequel graphic memoir to the sisters’ High School, a memoir they wrote that has also been adapted into a TV series (though it appears to not only cover high school). It seemed obvious from the title, but that was not the case—not quite. While the story draws on some key aspects of their history (explained in the author’s note), they made those key aspects happen earlier in their lives and also—this is the weirdest one—updated it to present day. This didn’t really work for me. It’s just bizarre to have Tegan and Sara talk about being influenced by Billie Eilish? Plus, I think it would be more interesting if it was historical. It doesn’t have to be changed to still appeal to today’s kids. The various references might become dated fast.

I did appreciate the complicated friendship dynamics of this story, as well as how that complexity related to the sisters’ queerness. It avoids several coming-out tropes.

As for the illustrations (which, reading an ARC, should not be considered finished), I loved how each twin had a color (blue or red) and how they would interject and give their inner thoughts throughout. It showed their relationship to each other at different points in the story. But I do wish there was more color in the regular pages. Most middle grade graphic novels are full color?

Two sisters navigate everything about junior high together in this graphic novel, from crushes to friendship.

I'm not a Tegan and Sara fan (nothing against them, just not my fav genre) but it was nice to read about them in this graphic memoir. My niece is a huge fan and she was in love with the story and art.

This is a very cute middle grade graphic novel that is loosely based on Tegan and Sara's life, but is fictionalised and set in present day. The graphics are gorgeous, but at times I found that storyline to be a bit simple. I had to keep reminding myself though that I am not the intended audience and I think it'll be great for middle grade readers.

As a mum of twins, it was lovely reading about realistic twin relationships. It's not all picture perfect where they're BFFs. Sometimes, there is a bit of animosity between twins and I can only imagine how it'll be during the middle grade years when they are also trying to work out their own individuality. I really enjoyed this part of the graphic novel.

A great graphic novel that is a prequel of sorts from Tegan and Sara's adult memoir, High School. I look forward to reading that next!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

In Junior High, Tegan and Sara have joined up with Tillie Walden to make a sweet and very relatable autobiography to their pre-rockstar days.

I think fans of Raina Telgemeier might like this book (which may be a series?) when they get a bit older. Their problems were relatable and weren't magically solved by the end. Great realistic fiction in a graphic novel format.

thanks NetGalley & FSG for my eReader ARC!
I've been a lifelong Tegan and Sara fan. literally. my first two cds, cds that were MINE, were "so jealous" and p!nk's "m!ssundaztood" when I was 6 years old. legendary. and I wish I had had this book then.
first off, I think this is illustrated so well by Tillie Walden, and I loved how she used color to differentiate between Tegan (blue) and Sara (red), the rest of the novel being illustrated in purple. so smart, so obvious, but effective! loved that.
I also loved how accessible this was. it tackled periods, queer awakenings, sibling dynamics, big moves as a kid, the confusion of friendships, and while it definitely could have gone deeper, I think it was great (especially with the visuals!!) for the age range it's intended for. there were a lot of moments that put me in touch with my younger self in very tender ways.

I will say that I think the dialogue was a bit weak at times, but again, I think that can help with accessibility and ease of reading! it's also literally written for kids! so I wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece.

I do wish it had been set in the 90s and been more true to Tegan and Sara's actual experiences. I didn't love the use of current media information/texting, but I do get that it probably made the storytelling easier and more effective for the audience. but I think a 90s setting could've worked just as well, honestly.

overall, super cute, real, and accessible. I'm also excited to see that they plan on releasing more books (hopefully with Tillie Walden???) in the future!

Walden’s illustrations are excellent and well depict the twins, but the writing itself leaves a bit to be desired. Great for fans of Guts and Twins, but not a first pick when there are so many other excellent variants in the genre.

I appreciate all of the heart and work that went into creating this! Unfortunately, for me, it fell a bit flat. I wish it had committed to placing the story in 90s history rather than updating it for the modern audience. In a time where there are so many wonderful coming of age graphic novels to choose from, this one could have been a bit more elevated.
However, I will still be purchasing for my library and I know there are many kids that will enjoy it!

Tegan and Sara: Junior High is such a smart and important follow-up to Tegan and Sara's memoir and TV show, High School. While High School is aimed at Millennial and GenX fans who've known and loved Tegan and Sara's work for ages — taking place in rural Canada in the 90s where they actually grew up and became a band — Junior High takes their story and time-travels it to present day with the brilliant and inviting drawings of Eisner Award-winning artist Tillie Walden. This book is aimed at younger LGBTQ audiences who might not even know who Tegan and Sara are, outside of their hit Lego Movie song, but who need this message of self-acceptance, success, and empowerment more than ever. We are at a boiling point, in the United States, with anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and legislation. We know for sure that positive representations of LGBTQ+ people open real-life hearts and minds, and we also know what a huge difference nuanced, relatable stories about LGBTQ+ people mean to the community itself. Especially to younger LGBTQ folks who are now prohibited from even checking out queer books from their libraries in some states. A vital time for a reworked version of Tegan and Sara's story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the chance to read this book and share an honest review.

I really wish they didn't try to "modernize" it. They seemed to focus more on that than the actual store. I've always loved T & S, so i was really looking forward to this, but it just missed the mark for me.