Duel by Jessixa Bagley and Aaron Bagley

 Duel 

by Jessixa Bagley 

Illustrated by Aaron Bagley

Published Nov. 7, 2023

Simon & Schuster

Paperback

Graphic Novel

307 Pages

Review copy provided by publisher

Goodreads Summary

A rivalry between sisters culminates in a fencing duel in this funny and emotional debut graphic novel sure to appeal to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale.

Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to middle school. GiGi is the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade (as well as everything else she does). They’ve only got one thing in fencing. Oh, and they’re sisters. They never got along super well, but ever since their dad died, it seems like they’re always at each other’s throats.

When GiGi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the first day of school, Lucy snaps and challenges GiGi to a duel with high sisterly stakes. If GiGi wins, Lucy promises to stay out of GiGi’s way; if Lucy wins, GiGi will stop teasing Lucy for good. But after their scene in the cafeteria, both girls are on thin ice with the principal and their mom. Lucy stopped practicing fencing after their fencer dad died and will have to get back to fighting form in secret or she’ll be in big trouble. And GiGi must behave perfectly or risk getting kicked off the fencing team.

As the clock ticks down to the girls’ fencing bout, the anticipation grows. Their school is divided into GiGi and Lucy factions, complete with t-shirts declaring kids’ allegiances. Both sisters are determined to triumph. But will winning the duel mean fracturing their family even further?

My Thoughts

I have admired Jessixa Bagley's work for years, but to my knowledge this is her first graphic novel. Her husband Aaron, a comic illustrator, created the illustrations in his first graphic novel project. 

First, I love that there is a character named GiGi. My younger self would have been beyond thrilled to see her name in a book! 

There is a unique set of complex and powerful emotions involved in sibling rivalry. Why is it that we can say and do the most awful things to our siblings that we would never imagine doing to another person? The Bagley team does an amazing job in depicting the tangled emotions between Lucy and GiGi through intense dialogue and actions. They use thought boxes to show the show the characters' inner feelings of fear, anxiety and deep sadness. I think students will enjoy being able to see what is going on in the heads of the siblings as they argue. 

I learned a lot about the sport of fencing through the chapter introductions. Each one introduces an aspect of the sport that also relates to the current action and mood in the story. The action gradually builds to a climax that leaves the reader surprised, satisfied and hopeful for the sibling and family dynamic. Perhaps there will be a sequel? 

I am excited to add Duel to my school library.  

See What Others Have to Say About Duel:

Kirkus

Publishers Weekly

Bookworm for Kids

Creepy Books by Aaron Reynolds in the Library

This past week was "Creepy Week" in the library. I decided to start a bit of a tradition during Halloween week and read all three of Aaron Reynolds' and Peter Brown's books in the "Creepy" series. 

I read Creepy Carrots with 1st grade, Creepy Pair of Underwear with 2nd grade, and Creepy Crayon with grades 3-5. This is the order of publication and I kept them in order, even though they can stand alone, because the last 2 books have an "Easter egg" from the previous books. Jasper Rabbit is an endearing character and the "creepy" characters have a silliness to them that draw students in without scaring them. 

Although some of the students had read the books, or some of them, they still enjoyed the stories. I used the soundscapes from Novel Effect which added just the right amount of effect of music, sounds and brief dialogue without overpowering the story. 

 

We are currently working on tracking fiction stories, story elements, and orally summarizing. These stories lend themselves perfectly to this work as the problems are obvious and Jasper tries several things to get rid of the creepy characters without success until he finally gets rid of them or solves them problem in some way. 

After checkout I like to have choices for the students. This week they could design their own carrots, underwear and a crayon bookmark from templates included in the Novel Effect resources. 

The most popular choice was the STEM challenge to build a trap to capture the creepy characters. The students were provided different building supplies and they were able to design and build their prototypes. I do not have a makerspace, but I do have a small collection of building supplies and consumables and I am trying to be more intentional about using them. 

A successful read aloud, in my opinion, leaves students wanting to read more from the author or stories similar to the read aloud. These books were checked out right away on Friday and I am fairly certain that they will not be on the shelves for a while. It was a fun week for sure.