Let’s Go, Coco!

In this semi-autobiographical debut, Fox combines middle school angst with giggle-inducing humor to deliver a wholesome graphic novel romp. Left alone following her best (and only) friend Blair’s move from Indiana to Boston, sixth grader Coco attempts to make new friends. It’s only after she literally falls into a group of girls that Coco begins to learn—via trial and error—how to obtain and be a good companion. Joining the Owls basketball team, Coco befriends star player Maddie, who constantly belittles Coco and their teammates. During a sleepover, Coco suffers heartbreak when her crush Tami reveals she likes the team’s mascot and jeopardizes her long-distance friendship with Blair by lying about why she can’t call Blair that night. When Maddie, furious at being upstaged by Coco in the semifinal, reveals Coco’s crush and her own careless remarks about her teammates, Coco must reconsider who her real confidants are and whether she has been acting like a friend to the people closest to her. Fox renders Coco’s anxiety as eerie flame-like tendrils sprouting from the edges of pages, highlighting through the on-point visuals the emotional turbulence of adolescence. Frenetically designed characters are portrayed with varying skin tones. Ages 8–12. Agent: Charlie Olsen, InkWell Management. (Aug.)