This is one gorgeous graphic novel.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-07-at-12.20.05-AM-1024x688.png" alt="Operetic" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4827" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-06-at-9.40.21-AM-1024x703.png" alt="Operetic" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4822" />

Charlie is taking a class about music, and one of the assignments is to find your song. Not quite your theme song, but the song that speaks to you. The teacher goes over all sorts of song, over the years but none of them speak to Charlie.

And then she hears Maria Callas, and realizes that she is her singer, and she listens to everything she sings. Her friends accept her for what they think is a weird obsession. And she uses Maria's music to draw out Luka, who has stopping coming to school because he showed to much of himself in class, and feels he can not sing any more.

It has all the middle school feels. Luka is a closeted gay, until he outs himself with his love song. Charlie is one of only a few Asians at the school. There are mean kids, and sympathetic kids, and as Charlie says, you just have to find your tribe.

There is a lot going on here, and is a quick, delightful read. Highly recommended for libraries and home. I wish there were more books about Charlie.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This book was received as an ARC from House of Anansi Groundwood Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this library are completely my own.

This by far has touched my heart when a girl re-discovers her path and finds a new passion. I really admire Charlie and her curiosity with trying new things from the convincing of her best friends. At some parts though when Charlie was concerned about the MIA of Luka, it reminded me of when you're in pre-school and you ask your teachers and teaching assistants what the other kids are doing and questioning their actions and they say "worry about your own self." It seemed to pick up more of the worry curious from Charlie and that could lead into an extreme situation. The illustrations were well drawn but it will attract more of a crowd if there were more colors and not a monochromatic palette but overall, this was a well-drawn well constructed novel.

This title could potentially be considered for our graphic novel collection at our library. That is why we give this book 4 stars.