Thank you, NetGalley and First Second Books for providing me with an ARC of this beautiful graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

All Marlene wanted was to be happy about herself. She didn't want to go to the salon every Sunday just to straighten her frizzy hair so she would be presentable at school. She wanted her hair to look cute like her Aunt Ruby. But, she couldn't tell her mom, Paola, because she liked to see her mom happy when her hair looks good. She often gets bullied by her relatives and her school friends because of her bad hair.

I'm glad to be part of Marlene and Paola's journey of loving their curls and opening up to each other. I'm happy with how supportive Ruby and Camilla are.

First, my gratitude to First Second Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this gorgeous graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

<i>"The only thing I wanted to do was make people see me how I saw myself in my head."</i>

Marlene's mother has scheduled them a weekly salon treatment to keep their hair presentable and be able to conform to what society accepts as normal otherwise they'd be treated differently. But little did her mother know that Marlene hated the salon, and hated the idea of trying to achieve normalcy. Because of this, she has always been so insecure about her ever arrogant cousin's luscious blonde hair, that she always dreamt of having gorgeous curls like her idol Dulce Maria. Her prayers were answered when her Tia Ruby entered the picture and help her to achieve the hair that always just exist inside her mind... Impactful with gorgeous art. Frizzy is a beautiful story of self-discovery and acceptance.

This is a great story about Marlene who has “bad” hair that she has to get straightened every Sunday. She hates, hates, hates going to the hairdresser. She doesnt’ hate being with her mother, but she hates the rest of it.

Finally she has enough, when she goes to a cousin’s quinceanera, and *she* has perfectly straight blonde hair, and everyone says how wonderful that is, and Marlene just can’t take it anymore.

Her aunt lets her hair go natural, and so, when she is expelled from school for fighting (sort of about her hair), her tia teaches her how to take care of her hair, and to have pride in it.

Sweet middle grade graphic novel. Very relatable.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

"There is nothing wrong with you wanting to look and feel your best and to take care of yourself, but self-worth shouldn't be tied to appearance, either."

Marlene (main character)
Ruby (Aunt of Marlene)
Camilla (Best Friend of Marlene)
Paola (Mother of Marlene)

My love for Marlene, Ruby, Camilla, and Paola has no bounds. Accepting and loving a part of you is hard especially when others see it as something it should not be. Seeing how Marlene used to be confident and innocent of the way the world works to an insecure middle-grade break my heart.

I'm glad to be part of Marlene and Paola's journey of loving their curls and opening up to each other. I'm happy with how supportive Ruby and Camilla are. This graphic novel is a gem and I love the colour palette!

Thank you Net Galley for the graphic novel Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega. As someone with curly hair, I totally relate to this book. The illustrations were wonderful and I loved it!

Marlene just wants to stop going to the salon to get her hair straightened. After all, what’s wrong with her natural curls? Except, when she decides to wear her natural curls to school, it doesn’t go quite as she’d hoped. But after Tia Ruby takes her under her wing, teaching her how to style her curls, Marlene figures out that there’s no such thing as “bad hair” and “good hair”—all hair is beautiful.

The illustrations in Frizzy were cute, and the colors were fun and vibrant. So many kids are going to see themselves in this book, and it’s going to make a huge difference—especially in their confidence. I really loved how anti-Blackness was discussed and how hard it can be to undo generations of learned behaviors and beliefs. I can’t wait to find out what students think of it!

This was absolutely adorable, and I think it's an important lesson that everyone needs to learn.

This story goes into something a lot of people experience - hair problems. Regardless of what type of hair, if you don't take care of it, I think we all feel the same way as Marlene about it. I have always had similar feelings about my hair, so this story hit close to home for me, thus why I wanted to read it.

I think it's important to talk about different hair types, what they need, how to take care of them and to not use people's hair against them. This is an amazing way to explain that to kids and adults alike, because like the book says, it's hard to break cycles you've been in your whole life. It's hard to stand up for yourself and do stuff for you.

I would 100% put this as a need to read book, borderline boon study for middle grade kids, cause this is important and this novel explains it all and conveys the emotions on it SO well!

I read this book in one sitting, and once you get started, you will too! A poignant tale on love, family, loss, and self-acceptance in a way that will make your toes curl (pun intended) in delight. Marlene has spent years fighting her Sunday trips to the salon with her mother in favor of her wild curls of hair. When Marlene decides to take matters into her own hands and fight the straight hair perfection emulated by her cousins, she is sent to spend the weekend with her aunt Tia Ruby. One weekend with Ruby manages to place Marlene and her mother on a path of understanding... and great hair!

Graphic novel about a girl who is bullied by mother and peers at school for her natural curly hair. Good story about standing up for oneself in a realistic way.

Marlene hates going to the salon on Sundays and doesn't understand why people have a problem with her natural hair. With the help of her best friend Camila and Tía Ruby, she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.

I absolutely loved everything about this. We go on a journey from self-doubt to self-acceptance. We see the positive impacts of healthy relationships and effective communication. Marlene was a very relatable and lovable character. The art is fantastic, too!

I loved learning the process of what folks with curly hair have to go through to take care of their hair. This book isn’t just for people with curly hair, but also anyone who has been told they weren’t good enough. We can never have enough body positive books, especially for the middle grade audience!

CW: internalized racism, microaggressions, bullying, racism

AMAZING!! I fell in love with this book. The characters are relatable, fun, and unique. I really felt for her as I also have had to learn to love my natural waves, and I think others will relate to her as well. I loved the aunt- she is so accepting, and loving. The way the mother grows is also a great storyline.

I really enjoyed this book. The message was really good, the art was charming and the main characters were very likeable. My only negative is that the actual hair care section took me out of the story. That part felt more like a how-to guide than a narrative. If that section had been a more instructional section at the back of the book I think it would have worked a lot better. Still, this story was quite enjoyable, and I'd definitely recommend it to our young readers.

Frizzy is a middle grade graphic novel with a timely message that speaks to the hearts of anyone who’s been told they aren’t good enough just as they are. The main character, Marlene has spent years hearing that she needs to be more presentable. The messaging of not being “good enough” or acceptable with her natural curls is one that many women of colour have heard all their lives. Unfortunately, Marlene is hearing this from her own mother. Through her relationships with strong female relatives, Marlene embarks on an empowering journey of self acceptance. This book is a welcomed counterbalance to the pressures our tweens and teens face to be perfect thanks to social media.

A perfect middle grade graphic novel about the power of being yourself. With heartfelt friendships, a big party and a little help from her tia, Marlene learns to be proud of exactly who she is. A great addition to any school or classroom library.

F҉R҉I҉Z҉Z҉Y҉ by Claribel A. Ortega A҉R҉T҉ by Rose Bousamra

💇🏽‍♀️Good hair vs. Bad Hair
⭐️Being yourself
🧠Unlearning
😡 Bullying
👯‍♀️Friendship
👍🏽Cool Aunt
🐓Cute Chicken

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Middle grade graphic novel about Marlene with natural curls who just wants to be herself.

Her mother, Paola, has been taught to hide her curls because they “aren’t good” and “look unprofessional”.

Mother and Daughter visit the salon every Sunday to straighten their hair. Until one day, Marlene just can’t take it anymore.

With the encouragement of her dear friend Camellia and her cool aunt Ruby, with the same hair, Marlene learns how to wear and take care of her curls.

This story is absolutely adorable and sweet, while hitting on some tough and important issues.

The artwork is beautiful and the color palette is perfection.

The special guest star chicken was a pleasant treat.

I highly recommend this graphic novel.

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

#frizzy #claribelaortega #rosebousamra
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Marlene and her mom go to the salon every Sunday to get her hair straightened. Learning to own her naturally curly hair, Marlene learns about internalized racism and how to love herself and her natural hair.
I loved this so much! Marlene is an absolutely adorable main character and I loved her and wanted to wrap her in a hug. I loved her support systems (her aunt and best friend), and the dimension of the characters that were around her.

Wonderful middle grade graphic novel about a young girl who learns to love her so called bad hair. Also to have the courage to talk to her Mom about how she is feeling.

i received an ARC of this through NetGalley and i cannot wait to get this into the hands of my students!

first, i loved the color scheme and illustrations in this book.

the story was so good. marlene just wants to be herself and feel comfortable in her own skin (with natural hair) but doesn’t know how to tell that to her mom. discussions around societal expectations of “professional” or "good" hair, generational learned behaviors, and anti-blackness help marlene figure out how to stand up for and take care of herself.

also i want to be that cool aunt!!!

As someone who grew up with messy hair and had to deal with a lot of what Marlene goes through, this book was comforting. It accurately displays family microaggressions about appearance and displays a message of self love.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to reach this book. I needed it.

I loved everything about Ortega's Frizzy. Recently I've noticed a trend with graphic novels where they are tackling the various ways to care for different types of hair, especially for people of color. I found Frizzy incredibly relatable as Marlene is your typical preteen girl just wanting to fit in and due to her "bad" hair she feels like she's fighting a losing battle. Marlene's hair creates a base for a lot of her relationships in the book and how each character relates to her based off their own definitions of what exactly defines "good hair." Rose Bousamra's artwork brought the whole story to life as she deftly illustrated all the different ways that Marlene does battle with her hair. I highly recommend for middle grade and teen graphic novel collections.