Cub

Cub
Cynthia Copeland
Algonquin, 2020 223 pages
Grades 4-8
Graphic Novel

Cindy finds herself stuck in the wilds of junior high school in the early 1970's. Everything is tricky and confusing. Cindy is a bit of a nerd and lives in terror of the judgmental popular girls. Luckily, she has her best friend Katie to hang-out with and ignore the rest of the jungle. Life gets even more confusing when Katie starts to hang out with the popular mean girls and Cindy has to brave junior high society alone in search of a new friend group. Her only solace is English class, where her no-nonsense teacher likes her writing and encourages her to keep at it. The teacher even connects Cindy with a journalist from a local paper, who takes the new cub reporter under her wing and teaches her the ropes. Seventh grade chugs along and Cindy gradually grows in confidence as she hones her writing talent, discovers a love of photography, and experiences a first love. Meanwhile, the political and social landscape of 1972/1973 looms behind her, adding further confusion, yet also opportunities for a young woman to excel and pursue her dreams.

Copeland offers a graphic memoir in the tradition of Raina Telegemeier, Victoria Jamieson, and Jennifer Holm. It is most reminiscent of the Sunny series being that it takes place in the 1970’s yet has a much different focus. Copeland's memoir features a young woman coming of age and owning her true nature and abilities in a time when women are first welcomed into the work force and the Equal Rights Amendment is passed. The reader sees the growth of Cindy from the beginning to the end of the school year where she turns from a mousey nervous girl to a self-assured young woman. It will give readers inspiration and motivation to discover their own passions, all while being entertained with a great story. It also offers great social advice, demonstrating that when the bottom feeders all rally together, the Queen Bee loses power. Cindy finds a way to control her own story and refuses to continue grant others the power over her life. I particularly enjoyed this story, also being a child of the 70's, though I was a bit younger during this time. Back matter features Cindy's 1970's sketchbook, which was for me a walk down memory lane and will be a source of amusement for young readers. As America celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment it is nice to spend time with some classic girl power: seventies-style.