Bounce Back vol 2 by misako rocks!

Vol 2: No Such Thing as Perfect

Emma is the main character this time, and things are not so perfect for the most popular girl in school. Her beautiful older sister gets perfect grades, and her mom is constantly wishing Emma could be more like her. Deep down, Emma wishes her friendship with Nala hadn’t ended the way it did, but the hurt has gone on too long to fix it now. When Lilico and Emma are both selected from the basketball team to play on the county All Star team, Emma thinks she finally has a chance to prove herself and stand above everyone else. But, her hyper competitive nature and inability to express her feelings get her in sticky situations over and over again. Sounds like another job for a guardian spirit!

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In this volume, there are more tropes typical to childhood stories -- sorting feelings, figuring out who you are -- but Emma has to work on her relationship with her family more than what we saw in the first volume with Lilico. Also, Emma has a lot of complicated emotions about how her family impacts her identity and being able to fully feel her range of emotions, especially as it relates to being able to fully express herself when she feels frustrated and unsupported by her family members. These difficult transitional periods are common amongst tween and teen readers, and I think a lot of them will relate to the struggles Emma is facing on and off the basketball court.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (Macmillian)
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781250838919 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Graphic Fiction, School Life, Friendship, Family, Animals