Tegan Quin

Aw. I really liked this. Very cute & full of good messages about growing up and friendship, but in a way that felt more relatable than preachy. The sibling relationship knocked it out of the park. I don't have a twin but two sisters (hi, if y'all are reading this), and the way Tegan and Sara switched quickly between bickering and being best friends felt very real to me.
My only issue is that sometimes it was very hard to tell the twins apart. They were color-coded on some pages, but others show more were monochrome and I was constantly having to double check which teen was talking based on outfits--which was also difficult since they dressed very similarly. The muted style looks cool, but carrying the color-coding over, even in very subtle ways, would've helped tremendously.
The end of the book shows Sara cutting her hair, though, so I have hope for the next installment. Will definitely be reading the next one. show less

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

After a rather boring and underwhelming summer, eighth grade is about to start for identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin. Naturally, this is precisely when their fledgling music career begins to take off: as it just so happens, the girls' band, Gunk, was chosen as a finalist in the contest Tegan surreptitiously entered them in at the beginning of the season. Although - spoiler alert! - they don't win, they do gain the show more attention of their favorite singer, Nite Fever, as well as her manager, Ramona Keys - and of course Chloe's cousin, DJ Kukumber. Now, in addition to navigating the normal perils of junior high - unrequited crushes, homework, and sometimes-fraught friendships - the Quins also have to decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to make it in the music industry.

CRUSH is the second and final installment in Tegan and Sara's middle grade duology. I just happened to grab of a copy of JUNIOR HIGH from my local library last month, thoroughly enjoyed it, and jumped at the sequel when it came up on Netgalley. I suspect I'm not the target demographic, since I approached the series as a Tillie Walden fangirl, as opposed to a Tegan and Sara fan. I absolutely adore her illustrations and storytelling style; she single-handedly managed to pull me back into Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD 'verse with CLEMENTINE (like many fans, it's a love-hate relationship I have with TWD tbh).

So, not knowing much/anything about Tegan and Sara, CRUSH (and JUNIOR HIGH) is shockingly adept at creating characters who are extremely relateable, even though their life circumstances are anything but. (Let's be honest, how many child prodigies are in the audience?) Tegan and Sara have different ideas about what their band should look like, and struggle to remain true to themselves even as their manager tries to repackage them as a salable commodity. In their personal lives, Sara explores her feelings for the elusive (or not?) Roshini, while Tegan nurses the broken heart that comes with crushing on an older girl. Lucky them: they get to live out their growing pains in front of a live audience, in the form of BTS snippets.

In the afterward, Tegan and Sara describe the tween girls as their "fictional doppelgängers." Whereas the Quins grew up in the '80s and '90s, the world here is set firmly in the present day, complete with smart phones, livestreaming, and wifi. It's kind of interesting trying to figure out which bits are true (or not), although I guess this is less of an issue for the non- (or casual) fan, like me. Some of the details did feel a little unrealistic; for example, I cannot for the life of me imagine a manager taking her firing so well. (Idk, maybe they're a little more laid back in Canada, even the show biz types.)

As a vegan, I took a special interest in Sara's burgeoning veganism. (I believe she went vegetarian in JUNIOR HIGH, possibly to impress Roshini?) Tegan is initially annoyed at her twin's efforts to catch her crush's eye, but Sara's veganism becomes a bigger issue when managers and stylists keep pushing leather on her. (Ramona's objection that she's not EATING the dead animal, so just what is the problem? - I'm paraphrasing - is kind of perfect. We vegans have heard it all, folks.)

Naturally, immediately after finishing CRUSH, I feverishly googled different variations of "Tegan and Sara" + "vegan." Disappointingly, the top result was (always!) a Livejournal article from 2009, "Tegan and Sara--not vegan, and actually pretty obnoxious about it." (lolz) Sara did write a forward to VEGAN CUPCAKES TAKE OVER THE WORLD, but it is curiously devoid of the word "vegan." And then I ... kind of lost interest?

But yeah, I am left wondering whether Sara went through a vegan "phase" in junior high, or whether this was just one of the fictionalized bits, perhaps meant to illustrate the clash between Sara's beliefs and self-identity and the pressures of stardom. I suppose it doesn't really matter, since the representation wasn't bad and I quite like how Nite Fever stepped in to save the day. There's definitely a commentary about the perils of child stardom lurking in there.

CRUSH and JUNIOR HIGH are middle grade graphic novels that have appeal well beyond its tween demographic. Walden's artwork is captivating as usual, and the Quins' story is as engaging as it is unusual. show less

Soooo that's how the other half lives, huh?

This memoir goes through Tegan and Sara's teen lives: endless parties and drug trips, girlfriends, coming out (sort of), and finding their music - and miraculously succeeding with it. While it wasn't the most outrageous thing out there (I can only read so many drug stories), I couldn't put down the constant carousel of crushes, confusion, and teen clumsiness in acknowledging - then accepting - their sexuality. There were many parts in there that I show more could connect to more than any piece of LGBT fiction. (Especially having a sibling who seems to be 'copying' your sexuality.)

While I've mainly just admired these two for being Canadians Who Actually Did The Thing, I tore through it, so I think this will really be perfect for fans - seeing how they got their start not exactly by being scrappy and ruthless, but by being determined, supported by their family and friends, and just damn talented (and with a very good but now-incomprehensible system of recording things onto cassettes). show less

I'm not a real follower of Tegan and Sara's music, but I do like the four songs and two short NPR concerts of theirs that have made their way into my iTunes. I am definitely a fan of Tillie Walden though and grabbed this book from the library to admire her art.

Junior High is a fairy typical bit of middle-school fiction, hitting Judy Blume topics like friendship drama, bullying, menstruation and bras. Less typically, the twin sisters here -- based on the authors -- also have LGBTQIA+ issues show more and start pursuing a music career. It's a bit long and meandering, but was never bored thanks to the sisters' relationship. I'll probably check out the sequel coming out later this year.

Comics about twins can be frustrating when it comes to telling the two apart, but Walden offers up a couple cues to help differentiate. Sara is associated with a color I called scarlet or salmon to pick up on her S initial, and her name is nearly an anagram for "ears" which is good since her ears are almost always visible. Tegan has a teal color associated with her and her ears are usually ouT of sighT (weak, I know).

Side note: I'm listening to Tegan and Sara music on Spotify while writing this, and it's nice. I'm still not a super fan, but I can see why people would be. show less