Stand Up!:

A Graphic Novel

by

Tori Sharp

A fun middle-grade graphic novel about stepping outside your comfort zone and having the courage to try something new!

Stand Up! by Tori Sharp is a fun middle-grade graphic novel featuring best friends Clay and Kyle and how they team up to develop a successful podcast using the natural strengths they’ve recognized they have growing up with ADHD and autism. The two eighth-grade protagonists capitalize on what many might see as stumbling blocks to reaching their dreams. 

I enjoyed getting to know Clay, Kyle, and their friends from the Greenlake Middle School Drama Club as they prepare to mount the final show, a musical called “Gals and Dolls,” of their middle-school years. However, both Clay and Kyle have always worked backstage, and this time, they want to audition for acting roles. After the experience of their audition, Clay decides to stay the course and act; Kyle isn’t feeling it and opts to stage manage, a role at which he both excels and is comfortable. Making the switch to performer proves unexpectedly difficult for Clay, though, as her ADHD doesn’t pair well with the seemingly endless repetition and the hurry-up-and-wait nature of rehearsals. Dania, another classmate making her first appearance on stage playing the lead female role, faces struggles of her own with slowly increasing stage fright. Clay’s immediate crush on Dania is sweet and entertaining when her attraction makes her tongue-tied and verbally awkward around the other girl. Suddenly shy, she is unable to talk to Dania about her feelings. However, Dania’s collaboration on Clay and Kyle’s brilliantly funny podcast, “Passing Notes,” paves the way for the two to get closer. The story has a spectacular HEA for everyone. 

An interesting aspect of the story is gender identity and non-traditional families. While the main characters are named Clay and Kyle, typically male names, it is left ambiguous in both the narrative (for quite a while) and the illustrations as to whether they are actually males or females. Frankly, and this may be the point, it doesn’t matter to the trajectory of the story. The plot would work in the same fashion with any gender configuration. Also, Clay, Kyle, and their respective moms all live together in a single apartment on the second floor of an older home, where the first floor has been converted into a coffee shop/bakery. The relationship between the moms is never addressed or revealed, and readers are left to establish that themselves. They could be friends sharing the space, each with their one child, or they could be a couple. What we DO know is that they are both committed parents, and the four of them get along very happily. Once again, their status doesn’t affect the trajectory of the plot. They and their friend Lettie, the owner of the bakery, have an enviable and long-held friendship, but it is unclear whether Lettie lives above the bakery as well. 

The story moves quickly, going from the end of one middle-grade musical into preparation for the next: Clay developing her crush on Dania, creating the podcast, and including Dania in the podcast production. The artwork, while more modern, reminded me somewhat of the Archie comic books of my childhood, while the storyline is much more robust than anything from that era. I enjoyed the clever feminine twists to the names or titles of everything imaginable throughout the story. Well done! 

I recommend STAND UP! to middle-grade readers who enjoy graphic novels, especially those looking for reps of ADHD, autism, and LGBTQ main characters.

For this and other book reviews, visit my blog, Boys' Mom Reads!