I just finished this book and I really want to have the physical copy, cuase it was such an amazing books!
It’s a grafic novel so it was a quick read for me.

In the book they talk about self-confidence and to find yourself, follow your own heart and not care what other people thinks about you, and they also show bullying 😞
It’s such an amazing artwork too!

But this book is sooo good! I can really recommend ro read it when it comes out in 18 October! I need the physical copy!

This is a really cute, honest look at learning to love oneself. It's a nice portrayal of the feelings of a young girl coming to terms with her mother about her Afro-Latina experiences with hair. This is the book for every little girl whose mother has given them a rough brushing for their curls or taken them to a brutal beauty appointment.

For fans of Hair Love who want something a little older, this book is a must read.

Frizzy is a middle grade graphic novel that follows Marlene's journey to embrace her natural curly hair when she is told to straighten or style her hair that out does her natural complexion.

Frizzy is such an important and Informative story that delves on accepting your individuality and natural features that sometimes maybe perceived by society as "not beautiful" or "unprofessional". As much as I am not entirely relatable to Marlene's experience, it was such an Informative and touching story to read about.

I think this is a great middle grade novel that tackles such subjects especially directed to it's target audience, where teens are always pressured by parent's and society's expectations.

Also I really really loved the art style! The illustrations were so beautiful and the colours and words flowed really well ✨


Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with the e-arc!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4795020001?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

My 5th graders love a great story told in graphic novel and this one has both of these. I have a very diverse classroom in NJ and my 5th grade girls in particular would really enjoy Marlene's story. I could see many of them identifying with it. As a kid, I remember a boy telling me how ugly my curls were and that I should straighten them out. I couldn't see then what an issue that was, but reading her story, now I definitely see it. I challenge anyone to read this and tell me that graphic novels aren't books. My classroom would beg to differ.

A touching and much needed graphic novel about self-acceptance and hair positivity. I appreciated its nuanced handling of intergenerational trauma and racist beauty standards. My only criticism is that the story connected the dots too obviously and I would have loved more complexity and character development.

I wish I had this book growing up. I wasted countless years (literal years when you add up the hours as well) straightening my hair because I didn't feel beautiful. Learning to work with curls instead of against them, embracing my natural self instead of a contrived one, these lessons would have been easier to learn with encouraging stories like this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second for an eARC of Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega in exchange for an honest review.

CW: racism

Marlene has curly hair. Hair so curly and frizzy that the people around her don't know what to do with it, and she certainly hasn't been equipped to care for it herself. Marlene is constantly being compared to her perfect older cousin with her straight, blond hair. Marlene is grappling with the turmoil of growing up and comparing herself to others. Her aunt helps her to develop a hair routine that works for her, allows her to feel like herself, and encourages her to be honest with her mom about how she really feels about those horrible trips to the salon.

I loved this! The color scheme of the graphics was just gorgeous! This story was heartwarming and all about living as your authentic self. Marlene faces unique prejudices and difficulties being mixed race, and her aunt teaches her about internalized racism that has kept her mom from accepting her own hair, let alone her daughter's. I was so glad to see a depiction of older family members coming together to support a child in their identity and solve conflicts with honesty and understanding. A quick and lovely read.

I loved everything about Frizzy by Claribel A Ortega. From the theme to the message and the illustrations it all hit the mark for me. Representation matters, and I think this book should have a place in every elementary school library.

This is a Young Middle Grade Graphic Novel. I really loved all the drama with the main character's hair. I loved the message in this book. The pictures are cute in this graphic novel. I do think this book is on the young side of Middle Grade. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Frizzy is perfect for middle school girls struggling with their appearance - struggling to accept that what matters most is on the inside. The illustrations enhance the story. This book is a good reminder to advocate for yourself and speak up to trusted adults around you.

First of all thank you to the author Claribel A. Ortega and art illustrator Rise Bousamra of Frizzy. Thank you to netgalley and First Second Books publishing for providing me the opportunity to read this wonder story. Publication date is on Tuesday October 18th, 2022.

I loved this graphic novel! This is a story about a young girl named Marlene. It describes her experience of having frizzy hair. What makes this interesting is that she is expected go to the salon every week to have her hair straightened so she could be "presentable" by society standards and expectations. There seem to be a sense of shame of having Marlene and her mother hair natural curly or frizzy. There's a generational component where parents have passed down to each other that they need to straighten their hair out to be accepted, respected and to be considered beautiful. For Marlene it's a very confusing notion because she doesn't feel that way. She wants to wear her hair freely. I don't want to give away much more away. But this is a story about diversity, society expectations, bullying, racism, beauty standards, culture and even grief of a loved one. The issues with how Marlene wears her hair is all tied into those topics. The illustrations were bright and colorful. The author did an amazing job illustrating the characters and their experiences and their challenges that Marlene and her family faced. I hope the author continues this as a series. I think it would do extremely well. It is certainly needed for a young audience and their families. Not only those who identify with Marlene and her experiences with hair. But to those such as myself that have no experience and understanding what people face when they're judged by their hair, what it really means and how it affects they're self esteem.

thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review!!

I NEED THIS BOOK TO BE IN EVERY SINGLE MIDDLE GRADE SCHOOL AS SOON AS IT COMES OUT!!! 😍😍😍 this has been one of the few graphic novels I've given it five starts not only because of the cuteness, but because of the way it made me feel and the themes it brought up in only 200 pages. like for real, I couldn't stop swooing of cuteness and screaming at the injustices people with super curly hair have to face daily. I wanted to jump in and hug Mariane all the time because of it 😭 every single kid should read this, it shows the power of friendship and true support a loved one can make, and how we can be the ones to break with stupid old traditions that don't make sense anymore and we don't need in this world because the way I've heard my own family say stupid stuff like the ones I've read made me want to punch something.
so yeah, a super powerful graphic novel and yet so simple at the same time. and I think Claribel A. Ortega is becoming an author I want to read absolutely everything from because her way of telling stories just *cheff's kiss*💜

flew through this book and loved every page. The raw emotions about hair love made me keep reading to find out what would happen - and I loved the ending so much. Thank you NetGalley and First Second for sharing a copy with me.

Before anything l would like to say thank you. This graphic novel was amazing. The story was to the point, crisp, and enjoyable. The vibrant colours and heartwarming ending all made for an awesome read. I finished this in about an hour, but it was worth it. A sweet spark that could make your day.

However only one thing bothered me and i think its personal but i dont like when kids hide things from their parents, and by putting that in the book and not making her mother talk to her about keeping secrets and how thats wrong, or complaining about your mom to relatives isnt really a good lesson for teens this generation.

Other than that i loved this book and cant wait for more!!!

'Frizzy' is a graphic novel written by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra. It tells the story of Marlene, a middle grade girl, who is struggling with some big questions tied to her, and society’s, feelings about her looks and more specifically, her hair.
What I love most about this middle grade graphic novel is that it models real and healthy conversations between friends, aunt/niece, and mother/ daughter. The main character asks some really tough questions after making observations like: 

I wonder if being beautiful was the only thing that mattered.
I don’t even want to see my family sometimes because I’m worried they’ll make fun of me….and I don’t think
that is the way I’m supposed to feel.
An example of a healthy response is her friend’s response to her questioning: “But it doesn’t matter what you look like- I just want you to be happy.” What a great model of female friendship!! We need more of this in books. As Marlene thinks about the contradictions adults are speaking in her life (it is what is on the inside that counts vs you need to look right and professional) she beings to question if being herself is enough. What I love is that she then looks to the positive role models in her life to figure out how to tackle these big questions- and EVERYONE, adults and kids, are better for it. I especially love her conversation with her aunt who explains in a very gentle and appropriate way that this is a problem that has been brought on by many generations.

I will absolutely be purchasing this graphic novel for my library. The bright, fun, colorful illustrations paired with a topic students can relate to will make this one fly off the shelves!

5/5 stars.

In this compelling middle grade novel, we follow Marlene, a young Dominican-American girl struggling with frizzy, curly hair. Her mother forces her to go to the hair salon every Sunday to get her hair straightened, with the hopes of getting her to fit in and be "presentable" at school and family functions. Marlene hates this monotonous routine and wants people to view her natural hair as beautiful, without having to conform to anti-black beauty standards. We follow as Marlene explores her individuality and builds a closer relationship with her mother and aunt, and comes to terms with her hair texture and learns how to correctly style her curls.

I absolutely adored this book, it was emotional and heartwarming and just right. Accepting your individuality while also trying to achieve and reach a specific “standard” is a daunting challenge, but this book demonstrates that anybody is capable of independence and originality. Many kids compare themselves to what society or their parents suggest they should look like, which is why I think "Frizzy" is such an important read. I was glad to see Marlene getting all the help she needs to figure out who she is, and how she wants to look.

The art was beautiful and vibrant. It was done in such a delicate mix between graphics and words that it was extremely gripping. The fonts are simple, and the phrases aren't too crowded, which I appreciated. I think Marlene’s emotions were portrayed very realistically and the art was able to effectively deliver all the heavy and light themes of this story.

I would recommend this book to everyone, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy! Thank you to Netgalley and First Second Books for providing me with an arc of this book. My review on Goodreads will be uploaded later, closer to the release date of the book.

Such a cute graphic novel. This is a story I would recommend to any young kid dealing with body issues any any young curly haired kid

This book tore me to pieces and I loved it! Marlene is struggling with her identity. She does not fit in because she does not have "good hair."
Sadly, ever week she goes to the hair salon to straighten her hair. This weekly ritual is taking a toll on her.

This book is exactly what so many kids need to read. My hair is definitely not curly like Marlene, but I grew up believing that I needed to straighten my hair in order to be pretty. I straighten it everyday, and i’ve done since i was about 12 years old. my mother had gorgeous curls but will often disregard them and will not either straighten them or put it up. I adore how this book inteoduces generational trauma, because these issues are common for many POCs who feel the need to “look white” because that is what is “beautiful”. It allows a conversation to grow within communities and accept that we are who we are and we should not be afraid to show our roots and culture.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review that is completely my own.*

'Frizzy' is a graphic novel written by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra. The story follows Marlene in her hair journey. She's a young girl whose natural hair is very curly, kinky, and to her mother "out of control" and must be tamed by going to the salon to get it straightened and styled.

The story follows Marlene in not only her hair journey, but her journey of loving herself just the way she is. Her mom has been taking her to the salon every Sunday since she was little, especially after the death of her father. But Marlene hates it; she hates going to the salon and having to sit there and have someone pull at her hair when she doesn't care what her hair looks like. To her, the only one that seems to care is her mom. She continues to do it for her mom until one day, she's had enough.

She and a friend of hers watch video tutorials of how to style and take care of curls that look similar to Marlene's, but in an attempt to manage this style herself, Marlene "wrecks" her hair by her mothers standards. Her mother puts her hair up in braids for the day at school and they'll get it fixed as soon as possible. Marlene is furious and just wants to be herself, she's proud of her curls and she doesn't understand why everyone else, especially her mother, makes a big deal about it. Marlene takes her braids out on the bus to school, but by the end of the day at school, bullies have stuck tape into her curls which results in a huge fight of Marlene pushing someone down that sends Marlene to the principal's office.

Marlene's mother is furious and she tries talking to her mother about how she wants to like her hair the way it is, but all her mother is focused on is how she pushed someone down at school for bullying her. I can understand Marlene's frustration, people are bullying her just for the way her hair looks and she's the one getting in trouble. Marlene's mother suggests she goes to her aunts house for the weekend to try to get a breath of fresh air and relax.

Her aunt Ruby has hair just like Marlene, and they get to talking and Ruby suggests that she teach Marlene how to style and take care of her hair so it can be natural but cleaned up and not 'frizzy' the way her mother sees it. The whole weekend is filled with tips and tricks of how to style it to her liking and her aunt validates her feelings that her mom is being too hard on her, and there are things Marlene figures out in these conversations with Ruby why her mom is so against her natural hair.

When Marlene returns home after school on Monday she's terrified to see her mother's reaction to her curls that Ruby helped with. She walks in the door and her mother's immediate reaction is "What did Ruby do?!" and threatens to call her sister and have a talk with her about this. But Marlene steps in and stops her, and talks to her, finally, about how going to the salon and having her hair straightened all the time doesn't make her feel like herself, her natural curls feel more like her and she wants to be free to have her hair how she wants it and not live up to other people's standards of what hair should be deemed "professional" or "lady-like."

The ending of this graphic novel was very cute, and I really appreciated this story. I give it 5/5 stars because I think it sends out a positive and necessary message to anyone with natural curls, and those that feel the need to comment on someone's hair being "unprofessional." I think, while this book may be aimed at a younger audience, it's necessary for everyone, curls or not. We live in a world, especially in the United States at least, where black people and PoC's hair is always a topic of controversy for some reason. There has been a precedent set that natural hair is bad, that black women should have their hair styled all the time to appear more "professional" and "clean." This idea is stemmed from racism, obviously, and it needs to stop. It's even talked about in the book itself, why Marlene's mom stopped wearing her hair naturally and began going to the salon, because she was sent home from school because at the time, her natural hair was unacceptable.

Even in this day and age, in 2022, black people and PoC are constantly criticized for their natural hairstyles. And sometimes, even when their hair is styled, in ways such as dreadlocks, braids, or other popular styles, they are still critiqued for their hair not being "clean" or "professional." I've never really understood the idea of someone's HAIR being unprofessional, it's just hair. Having a different style of hair, different color of hair or whatever is self-expression and I think is very important for every individual. But black people and PoC seem to be the exception to this and it needs to be talked about more, and I think this book does a really good job of representing this idea. That it doesn't matter what your hair looks like, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters.

Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. I heavily enjoyed this one and I think this will be a great read for absolutely anybody, PoC who want to learn self-acceptance, and those of us without naturally curly hair that no one's hairstyle should define who they are or their worth.