THE NEW GIRL

The angst and agonies of early adolescence are magnified when you’re the new girl.

Twelve-year-old Lia Iordache experiences the excruciating pain of heavy cramps as she gets her first period at the airport shortly before the flight that will take her family on their emigration journey from Romania to Canada. They settle in Montreal, but Lia doesn’t speak French, and it’s hard to see how she’ll make friends at her new school. But as a member of the school’s immersion program for French language learners, Lia quickly learns that first impressions aren’t everything. Before long, she and her classmates find the rocky rhythms of tweens everywhere who are navigating schoolwork, extracurriculars, friendships, crushes, rivalries, and changing bodies. While Lia certainly feels the stigma of being the new girl, this work is a gentle exploration of what could be a devastating time. The adults in Lia’s life are generally kind and supportive, and her diverse classmates from around the world ultimately make the experience of integrating into a new environment positively delightful. If only all middle school students had such a class! Calin’s illustrations flow effectively and provide humor; her text bubbles also creatively visualize, through color coding for different languages and scribbles to represent French words Lia can’t understand, the process of acquiring a new language. A few loose narrative threads and a relatively abrupt ending hint at future installments. Fans of Raina Telgemeier, Victoria Jamieson, and Svetlana Chmakova will rejoice.

Funny, awkward, and exuberant.