This graphic novel explores death and coping through the eyes of middle schoolers, using anthropomorphized characters that resonate with young readers. While the themes are engaging, the story felt a bit brief and could have benefited from more depth.

Wasn't expecting this graphic novel to hit me right in the feels (I went in blind and look at that deceptively cheery cover lol) but it was such an emotional, heartfelt and beautiful read.

I adored the characters, the beautiful illustrations, as well as the rich colour and detail. The storyline was compelling while touching on so many important topics.

Not only does it navigate the beauty and complexities of friendship, the book also explores grief, loss, how isolating it can be despite shared experiences, the different ways people cope, memory and how the ones we love never really leave us.

Everything was so lovingly written and well-portrayed – and you realise why, when you read the author's note.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A sweet, gentle middle grade graphic novel about grief and the healing power of friendship. Don't skip the Author's Note at the end - it gives the book even more emotional depth and had me reaching for a box of tissues!

This was an interesting way to explore grief in a middle grade audience though it is somewhat unfocused. While we see different expressions of grief the addition of the mystery/adventure plot isn't especially well integrated.

Dear Rosie…
A graphic novel about loss, some mystery, and the strengths of friendship. No matter what anyone is going through; with friends and family, nothing will be impossible to get through.

This middle grade graphic novel was so touching and sweet. A group of girls are dealing with their grief after suddenly losing a friend. They are each dealing with their grief differently. There are some squabbles which are totally understandable when big feelings are involved. I think this could easily become a classic for kids-young adults dealing with this specific type of grief. The illustrations and families were lovely.

This is such a gentle and sweet book well tackling a really tough concept for middle grade. This friend group loses one of their friends to an accident and it's told over the next year of them trying to figure out how to move on with their lives. The story itself was very sweet very cute but my favorite part by far was the art style and the animal characters. I feel like it's kind of rare or on the rare side to find audio books that are fully colored and not just a limited palette and this one has so much detail in intricacy within every single panel and I loved it a lot.

What a beautiful, heartwarming, poignant read. The ending had me smiling and at the same time, in tears! A story of loss but especially of love.

Millie and her three other friends have just lost a fourth friend to a car accident during the summer. They are all in middle school, and when school starts, there is a big missing piece where their friend Rosie, used to be. Millie keeps dreaming about her, and missing her,and is having trouble adjusting, the same way the other friends are, but they are dealing with it in different ways, such as acting out.

Millie finds a note book that looks as though Rosie drew in it, and she and her friends try to “solve the mystery” of what the notebook was all about, as a way to get over her death, trying to find what she was looking for in her sketch book.

The author said she based this death of a friend in her group on a college friend who died, and what a hole that left in her life.

Our group lost a friend to a car accident when we were seniors. This was before social media and the internet, but the word got around school the next day that Liegh had died, and we knew even before class started. It was hard. It is always hard when death comes for the young.

Very realistic the way each one of the friends copes, from, as I said, acting out, to running away from home, to simply being sad.

Beautiful pictures. Sad story, but well done.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book comes out the 11th of July.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
For seventh grader Millie, losing a loved one, especially a friend, is devastating. Her other close friends, Florence, Claire, and Gabby, all mourn in different ways, and healing takes time. With Rosie gone, Millie begins a scavenger hunt by a notebook left at her parent's laundromat to find closure of Rosie's death. Growing up hurts, but with the power of friendship, can Millie and her friends find solace in letting Rosie go?
Profoundly moving and heart-wrenchingly sad, Dear Rosie tells of four girls who have just lost their close friend, Rosie. These girls go through a lot as preteens navigating love, family, and childhood. Some have secrets, and some deal with grief, in what's a tale of four girls finding the secrets of Rosie and finally letting her go. A heartwarming story by an extraordinary author; I can't wait to find out what Meghan Boehman writes next.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's through NetGalley.
Tender look at how these friends cope and heal after one of their circle dies. Rosie is an active part of the story though her death took place before it begins. We meet Millie as she continues to dream about Rosie but can never catch up with her. She then connects with the other three friends in their group and we see each trying to cope in their own ways. All of them continue to grieve and hurt and feel lost until they share with each other. The story conclude on the one year anniversary of her death. The four have come through arguments, foolish choices, grief and healing to celebrate Rosie together. Boehman sensitively pulls readers in to share the grief and healing process and keeps the methods real for middle school kids. The artwork enhances the story and offers clues to actions behind expressions.

86%

A very touching story about dealing with grieving the loss of a friend. This book made me reminisce about middle school - there weren't many good moments worth remembering, but the ones that are involved my besties who were instrumental in getting me through that time.

The art is simple and refined, and I appreciate that special attention was paid to the ears - I feel like graphic novelists often forget how much animals express their emotions with their ears. The colors were warm and cozy, which nicely offset the sadness of the story and reminds us that even in times of grief there are good things.

The afterword revealed that all of the characters were actually animals that are native to the state of Maryland, which I thought was super cool! Clearly the authors did a lot of research before undertaking the project, and I only wish there was like a half page dedicated to talking about the main character animals; they obviously have a passion for nature, and it would've been awesome if they could've shared that with us readers a bit more.

The afterword also revealed that the story was based on real life events and friendships. I think this is a beautiful tribute, and an important story to share.

Beautifully well done graphic novel dealing with grief and anger after losing someone a group of friends cared about and how grief impacts everyone differently. I went into this story not really prepared for the depth and care that was put into this story and how much it was going to impact me. Must purchase for middle grade graphic novel collections!

4.5/ 5 stars for this great middle grade graphic novel about friendship, grief, and growing up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's Books for the egalley of Dear Rosie.

Dear Rosie shows us the aftermath and healing process of four young teen girls who have lost their friend in a car accident. Through emotive, colorful artwork and the conversations the girls have together and with the adults in their lives, we can see the different ways in which the healing process operates in different people. Some act out, some get angry, some search for belonging, and some feel the need to find answers, and none of these ways of coping are demonized through the story. The conflicts the girls face throughout their 7th grade year feel emotionally true and young readers who are grieving loss, and those who are trying to deal with changes in their lives, will likely find this story and its characters relatable.

My minor complaint that keeps this from being a 5/5 star book is that the pacing feels a bit fast in a way that doesn't really work with the timeline of the story. The story spans the girls 7th grade year from the first day of school, to the first day of summer break, and while there are some slight changes in season, it feels like the story occurs in the span of a month rather than in the span of nearly a year. It's nit-picky, but I was surprised and confused when I realized at the end of the book that we'd been seeing snippets of a whole year, not just a month or two. I don't think that this is a major detriment to the story, but it was enough to give me a little bit of whiplash.

This reads a lot like The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, and it made me a bit nostalgic for the time in which I first read that book, which I think means this book is perfect for the middle schooler of today as The Plain Janes was for me at the same age.

I would highly recommend this to readers who enjoy realistic fiction comics like Raina Telgemeier's books as well as to any young teen who is dealing with loss and major changes in their life. This story is a comfort and it shows that pain is something we all feel and learn to navigate with the help of the people we love and care for.

This is a sweet story of friendship and adventure, and how the loss of someone can change things. I loved the way that the friends were constantly reminding and celebrating their friend.

This was a sweet and hopeful story about moving forward after a major loss. The friends are all on their own personal grief journeys as well as the collective one of the group. I loved the diversity of the families and the realistic portrayals of grappling with grief for the age range. This graphic novel would be fantastic for middle grades readers who are in a similar situation and for those who are not. I found the art style compelling and fitting for the story as well. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

A group of friends are rocked by the death of their friend in a car accident and now must find a way to move on, through grief, friendship, and growing up, this was a heartwarming and sweet story. Millie has a group of best friends: Florence, Claire, Gabby, and Rosie. When Rosie dies in a car accident, their entire lives are rocked. The remaining girls are struggling to deal with their grief and how their lives are without their best friend. Growing up is not easy, and it’s especially hard when you lose your best friend. Now these girls will have to find a way to keep their friendship strong and mourn the loss of their friend. This was such a sweet and touching story. The way the girls all dealt with grief in their own way and the love they have for one another was amazing. I would definitely recommend this heartwarming and touching story!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I love how this book portrays trauma and grief in different ways. Each character experiences the loss of their friend differently, which causes misunderstanding between them, but it's their love of their lost loved one that binds them together despite that. I will definitely recommend this book to my teen readers to help them process their grief.