Twins

Twins

Varian Johnson

Shannon Wright, Illustrator

Graphix/Scholastic, 2020

249 pages

Grades 3-7

Graphic Novel

Maureen and Francine are starting middle school. This is daunting to shy, yet studious, Maureen, but at least she has her twin by her side and her elementary school friend-group. Everything changes as two of her friends get sucked into band culture and go boy-crazy and, worst of all, Francine is different. She shortens her name to "Fran", has mysterious meetings after school, and is pulling away from her twin. Maureen is confused and lonely. The cadet program in school that she is stuck in only seems to make matters worse, as she is terrible at marching. Her Master-Sergeant offers extra credit if she steps out of her comfort zone and suggests running for class president. There is only one other candidate on the ballot: Francine. Tired of always hiding in her sister's shadow, Maureen decided to run against her. Can two twins face each other in a middle school election without tearing their family apart and destroying their friend-group? Read this new graphic novel to find out!

Varian Johnson is the author of one of my favorite titles from the past few years, The Parker Inheritance. This is a very different book and I applaud his efforts to cross genres. As a kid I always wanted to be a twin. It seemed ideal to live with a built-in best friend and so fun to swap identities. Johnson, a twin himself, shows us the dark side. Adolescence brings a search for identity, which can be especially tricky for identical twins. Pair that with a natural tendency at this age towards self-absorption and conflict arises. This book will reach a variety of audiences and is sure to be popular. The clearly-drawn full-color illustrations will attract readers and the realistic and relatable school/family story will keep them riveted. This is a close, supportive, yet realistically flawed, family unit that is involved in resolving the girl's dilemmas, sometimes getting it right--and sometimes not, yet always demonstrating unconditional love. Maureen learns to see other people's perspectives and realizes that it's not all about her, which is a huge step for a tween. Sure to be popular, hand to fans of the popular memoir-style graphic novels.