Cover Image: Just Roll with It

Just Roll with It

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Member Reviews

Maggie is starting sixth grade and feels a lot of pressure. She has two successful older sisters and she is afraid if she picks the wrong club at school, everything will go wrong. She constantly asks her twenty sided dice for advice and is also battling her inner dragon. Once she makes a new friend and joins the RPG club, Maggie finally feels like she belongs and that she can control her own life.

This is a very cute and sweet graphic novel that really tackles OCD and anxiety. I loved the juxtaposition of the "actual monster" at school and the mental dragon that Maggie is up against. I also loved the gaming aspect of this book and the illustrations of Maggie's adventures. The people in Maggie's life are also very diverse, with her sister having a girlfriend and her best friend having two moms. I loved how Maggie's world felt very lived in and real. This will fit in well with other middle grade graphic novels that tackle similar subjects, although this is now one of my new favorites.

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Just Roll with It is the story of Maggie, a middle schooler who loves role playing and used a D20 dice to make decisions in her life. With the transition to middle school, Maggie's anxiety and compulsions overwhelm her, and she starts to realized that it's okay to accept help from others in order to be your best.

I haven't read many middle grade books with main characters that deal with anxiety or OCD, so it was great to see this representation. Maggie had very relatable problems like being shy or not measuring up to her academically inclined older siblings, as well as her OCD, which often manifested in physical form as a dragon or scribbles taking over the frame. Those visuals felt really powerful amidst the hustle and bustle of middle school. I also liked that therapy, OCD, and anxiety were explained in a way that is understandable to younger readers who may have no context outside the stereotypical portrayal, and the fact that there are queer adult characters was another great part.

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