LUCY IN THE SKY

A seventh grader and her friends form a band. Will it all come together?

When Lucy Sutcliffe comes across her parents’ old vinyl records, it’s the start of Beatlemania for the young drummer. Inspired by the Fab Four, Lucy and her best friends, Vanessa Takahashi and Rupa Khanna, are three-fourths of the way toward having a rock band. They just need a guitar player—and classmate Georgianna Birk might be it. While Lucy bonds quickly with the new member, the rest of the band does not click as easily. Beginning in the fall of 2012 and taking place over the course of the school year, readers see all the day-to-day ups and downs of middle school life. Brinkman deftly captures how friendships ebb and flow. In addition to changing friendship dynamics and tensions, family is a strong focus, and bridging it all and providing comfort is music. Snippets from The Beatles’ catalog and other classics often reinforce the narrative. The vibrant color palette of Chiki’s art feels contemporary while also evoking the 1960s. Effective, dynamic use of panel variations and white space complement Brinkman’s text. Lucy and Georgianna present White; Vanessa and Rupa are cued as Asian.

An honest coming-of-age story with extra appeal for music lovers.