Sarah Sax

I was pleasantly surprised that the conflict of Al being a girl on the baseball team is resolved rather quickly to make way for the true conflict.

It was really good about not deriving someone down to one story. There are two subplots: one about putting yourself out there to make friends and learning not to take no for an answer.

The subplot with Al’s friend Viv was much weaker, and I was not too fond of that resolution. she just forced her way as the mascot. The other boy was appointed show more mascot, and she just hijacked his thing when he had been rightfully chosen. It’d been better if they agreed to work together at his suggestion and incorporate the duck or next year the duck became the main person. It just showed Viv couldn’t take no for an answer. You don’t always get your way. And I don’t think she realized how unfair she way being to Cal show less

Tryouts is fantastic as a stand alone middle grade/middle school graphic novel about friendship, beloved hobbies, and what it means to be a team. It's also a great installment in Sarah Sax's "Brinkley Yearbooks" series, which has been entirely stellar so far. I really hope there will be more future installments!

Kudos for a school dance not centered around a middle-school romance (though Viv has a crush on the school mascot).

I thought this story was going in a certain direction with he grandmother having dementia and the dad not connecting with his son's interests, but it's not that. Some slight subversions

A sweet little slice of life about finding yourself and re-defining how you look, and feel!

This was a nice quick read! Sweet, well illustrated, and the variety of characters and hobbies they have was a great addition. Perfect way to start off my weekend!