The Squad
by Christina Soontornvat; illus. by Joanna Cacao; color by Wes Dzioba
Middle School    Graphix/Scholastic    288 pp.
11/24    9781338741322    $24.99
Paper ed.  9781338741315    $12.99
e-book ed.  9781546121978    $12.99

Soontornvat’s graphic-memoir adventures (The Tryout, rev. 11/22) continue as she enters her second semester of eighth grade. She’s still one of the few Asian American students in her small Texas town and still longs to be a cheerleader, but many things are changing; she and best friend Megan now include classmate Leanne in their group; she is close with the kids in her art class; and most notably, her parents are getting divorced. Despite the upheaval at home, Christina tries out for the cheerleading squad and makes the team. But with a new routine and social circle, she faces even more changes; and bottling up her resentment and sadness makes her uncharacteristically bitter and mean. In this second installment, Soontornvat lays bare the difficulties of girlhood, showing both vulnerability and growth, in an approachable text accompanied by lively illustrations. Ultimately, the lesson is finding strength in community: “I didn’t need life to be perfect…I just needed my squad.”

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.