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1st out of 43 books
—
11 voters
Friends with Boys
by
Faith Erin Hicks (Goodreads Author)
After years of homeschooling, Maggie is starting high school. It's pretty terrifying.
Maggie's big brothers are there to watch her back, but ever since Mom left it just hasn't been the same.
Besides her brothers, Maggie's never had any real friends before. Lucy and Alistair don't have lots of friends either. But they eat lunch with her at school and bring her along on their...more
Maggie's big brothers are there to watch her back, but ever since Mom left it just hasn't been the same.
Besides her brothers, Maggie's never had any real friends before. Lucy and Alistair don't have lots of friends either. But they eat lunch with her at school and bring her along on their...more
Paperback, 220 pages
Published
February 28th 2012
by First Second
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Jan 10, 2012
Anzu The Great Destroyer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
all the cool kids from the block
Come meet the gang! This here’s the happy family.
This here’s Maggie, our dearest heroine.
Then we have Lloyd and Zander (aka the twins). They have a major love/hate thing going on.
And the overly talented Daniel!
He’s actually a zombie hunter. But don’t tell anyone!
And last but not least, the coolest people around the block! My newest BFF, Lucy.
And her brother (and my newest crush) Alistair.
And let’s not forget the persistent stalker ghost who keeps on popping up in the strangest places!
Sum all the...more
This here’s Maggie, our dearest heroine.
Then we have Lloyd and Zander (aka the twins). They have a major love/hate thing going on.
And the overly talented Daniel!
He’s actually a zombie hunter. But don’t tell anyone!
And last but not least, the coolest people around the block! My newest BFF, Lucy.
And her brother (and my newest crush) Alistair.
And let’s not forget the persistent stalker ghost who keeps on popping up in the strangest places!
Sum all the...more
Graphic novels could be the longest on-again-off-again-still-going love affair in my life. Whichever form the tale takes, funny pages, comic book, web, or novel, the art has been a part of my reading life and love as a far back as I can stretch the ‘ole memory. Even before I could truly read, I was flipping through the funny papers with my father, trying to look all grown up, imitating his ruffle-the-paper-grumpiness on Sunday mornings. :) Sooo…
Nothing plays with my heartstrings and emotions whi...more
Nothing plays with my heartstrings and emotions whi...more
15 likes · like · see review
view all 17 comments
This was the first graphic novel I've read. I have no idea why I waited so long!
Maggie has a lot going on in her life. Her mother, who has home-schooled Maggie up until this point, has left the family. She's starting high-school with no prior experience, and really no other friends besides her three older brothers. Add to that, she's being haunted by a very sad ghost for reasons unknown. Maggie is really overwhelmed trying to make her way in school. Just figuring out who she's going to eat lunch...more
Maggie has a lot going on in her life. Her mother, who has home-schooled Maggie up until this point, has left the family. She's starting high-school with no prior experience, and really no other friends besides her three older brothers. Add to that, she's being haunted by a very sad ghost for reasons unknown. Maggie is really overwhelmed trying to make her way in school. Just figuring out who she's going to eat lunch...more
13 likes · like · see review
Yay!
1) Friends with Boys is the FIRST book I won on Goodreads!
2) It's a graphic novel and the artwork is very attractive and clean.
3) I enjoyed Faith Erin Hick's story about a teenager named Maggie dealing with a transition from homeschooling to public high school, making new friends, and her mother's abandonment of their family.
It's so cool to win a book that turns out to be an awesome, great read!
1) Friends with Boys is the FIRST book I won on Goodreads!
2) It's a graphic novel and the artwork is very attractive and clean.
3) I enjoyed Faith Erin Hick's story about a teenager named Maggie dealing with a transition from homeschooling to public high school, making new friends, and her mother's abandonment of their family.
It's so cool to win a book that turns out to be an awesome, great read!
3 likes · like · see review
I read this online, and I really enjoyed it. It's a good first effort, and is just now available to purchase in book form. I think what I liked the most was the relationships of all the siblings, and Maggie's growing friendship with her new friends in the public school.
The ghost story wasn't fully developed, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I do hope to see more about Maggie and her brothers. The author left lots of story waiting to be told. And, I'd love to read more.
The ghost story wasn't fully developed, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I do hope to see more about Maggie and her brothers. The author left lots of story waiting to be told. And, I'd love to read more.
5 likes · like · see review
Reviewed at: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/...
Friends with Boys is a book that seems like a normal realistic fiction novel about a girl starting high school. Maggie has always been homeschooled by her mom, but she is now in 9th grade (and her mom left), so it is time to go to high school. Will Maggie be able to fit in? Wait... then all of a sudden there is a ghost. At first it didn't seem to fit into the story, but then the story began to unfold around it. With her new friends it is up to...more
Friends with Boys is a book that seems like a normal realistic fiction novel about a girl starting high school. Maggie has always been homeschooled by her mom, but she is now in 9th grade (and her mom left), so it is time to go to high school. Will Maggie be able to fit in? Wait... then all of a sudden there is a ghost. At first it didn't seem to fit into the story, but then the story began to unfold around it. With her new friends it is up to...more
(edited for type-o's) First read in April, just re-read. ** some spoilery spoilers, people. **
Faith Erin Hicks, I command you to write faster. Kick it in to gear and get your next GN out. I demand more from you!
I actually read this one first, then went back and read her earlier works. I've enjoyed each of them, but this one most of all.
It's quirky, charming, funny and actually has a plot and story that resolve themselves reasonably well by the end. Although, the first time around, I didn't real...more
Faith Erin Hicks, I command you to write faster. Kick it in to gear and get your next GN out. I demand more from you!
I actually read this one first, then went back and read her earlier works. I've enjoyed each of them, but this one most of all.
It's quirky, charming, funny and actually has a plot and story that resolve themselves reasonably well by the end. Although, the first time around, I didn't real...more
Wow, this is hardly at all like I expected.
The title is a bit misleading. With a widely-used phrase like "Friends with Boys," I expected a story focusing on that element of life, with some discussion of gender dynamics.
But this is really not that at all. Granted, Maggie only has one friend who's a girl, but the story doesn't spend any time dwelling on the complexities of gendered life.
Between that and the mockup covers in the extra content in the back (which mostly feature the title "The Educa...more
The title is a bit misleading. With a widely-used phrase like "Friends with Boys," I expected a story focusing on that element of life, with some discussion of gender dynamics.
But this is really not that at all. Granted, Maggie only has one friend who's a girl, but the story doesn't spend any time dwelling on the complexities of gendered life.
Between that and the mockup covers in the extra content in the back (which mostly feature the title "The Educa...more
6 likes · like · see review
Friends With Boys as an great book about a home-schooled girl starting high-school. She has three older brothers who have been in high school a while and is very close with them. In this she also meets a nice brother and sister who are very unique. I also like this book because it avoids cliches. Such as when her friend gets in a fight with the school bully and gets beet up is not when she falls in love with him but when he instead opens up and talks about how he doesn't want to be the really an...more
1 like · like · see review
Why I picked it up: YALSA challenge, and Snow told me she thought I’d like it.
Maggie has been homeschooled, but tradition in her house is that you go to the local high school, so it is now her first day of 9th grade and her first day of public school. She has three older brothers, all of whom have gone through the homeschool to high school tradition and all of whom are still at the high school: senior Daniel and twins Lloyd and Zander. (An homage to Lloyd Alexander, perhaps?) Other than her brot...more
Maggie has been homeschooled, but tradition in her house is that you go to the local high school, so it is now her first day of 9th grade and her first day of public school. She has three older brothers, all of whom have gone through the homeschool to high school tradition and all of whom are still at the high school: senior Daniel and twins Lloyd and Zander. (An homage to Lloyd Alexander, perhaps?) Other than her brot...more
This graphic novel was more of a 3.5 but I decided to round up rather than down due to it being an overall sweet story.
The characters were likable and more or less believable and the relationship Maggie has with her brothers is charming. It perhaps oversimplifies the dynamics of high school cliques but is not entirely off base.
I think the biggest downside to this story was the somewhat random presence of the ghost -a possible metaphor for their mother, whose decision to abandon the family haunts...more
The characters were likable and more or less believable and the relationship Maggie has with her brothers is charming. It perhaps oversimplifies the dynamics of high school cliques but is not entirely off base.
I think the biggest downside to this story was the somewhat random presence of the ghost -a possible metaphor for their mother, whose decision to abandon the family haunts...more
I don't read many graphic novels. I should read more. Friends with Boys is a misleading title, since the boys lifelong homeschooler (til now) Maggie has been friends with her whole life--basically her only friends til she goes to high school in 9th grade--are her three older brothers. As a homeschooling/unschooling parent, I was troubled by this portrayal of homeschoolers--what, Maggie never left her house/family til 9th grade?! And Mom flew the coop, i.e. just plain left home (apparently with n...more
This is the first graphic novel I’ve read, and it was actually a really good experience. It took me a couple pages to get used to the storytelling method, but once I did, I enjoyed it a lot. It was a bit like watching a movie, I thought: all dialog and images. But I was really impressed at how much emotion and subtext the author/artist was able to convey with a few words and some drawings.
The story itself was a lot of fun. I loved all the characters and especially enjoyed the sibling relationshi...more
The story itself was a lot of fun. I loved all the characters and especially enjoyed the sibling relationshi...more
Maggie McKay has been homeschooled her whole life, and is about to start public high school for the first time. Her mother, who had homeschooled her and her three brothers, has suddenly left the family. So she has to adjust to an entirely new setting, making friends who aren't related to her, a missing mother, and brothers who are suddenly on the outs with each other. Oh, and the ghost of a sea captain's widow has been following her for years.
Forget the ghost for a minute, because she's not the...more
Forget the ghost for a minute, because she's not the...more
So I tried to write a song that would encompass my love of Faith Erin Hicks, but apparently I was not meant to be a lyricist, because all I could come up with was
Faith Erin Hicks!
You’re the author I adoooooore!
I want you to write mooooooooooore!
Is that so much to ask fooooooooooooooooor??
and clearly that’s not going to be winning me any awards.
Although really upon reflection I’ve decided it should. Goddamn I’m creative.
But anyway, Friends with Boys is yet another book by this author I’ve enjoye...more
Faith Erin Hicks!
You’re the author I adoooooore!
I want you to write mooooooooooore!
Is that so much to ask fooooooooooooooooor??
and clearly that’s not going to be winning me any awards.
Although really upon reflection I’ve decided it should. Goddamn I’m creative.
But anyway, Friends with Boys is yet another book by this author I’ve enjoye...more
5 likes · like · see review
We meet Maggie on her first day of high school. Up until this point, she had been homeschooled by her mother and as soon as Maggie was old enough to enter high school her mom left Maggie, her two brothers, and her dad without a second glance. Maggie forages through high school with the help of her three older brothers, two new friends and also the ghost that has haunted her since she was six.
This book kind of reminded me of Anya's Ghost in the fact that they are both graphic novels about girls...more
This book kind of reminded me of Anya's Ghost in the fact that they are both graphic novels about girls...more
This is a really sweet little graphic novel about moving into adulthood, maturity, and learning to forgive. Main character Maggie McKay goes to high school after years of homeschooling, prompted by her mother leaving her family. Maggie struggles to fit in, like any kid in that situation would, and on top of all of that, she's haunted.
Yeah.
Maggie does well. She makes some misfit friends and learns to be a misfit. She learns she doesn't necessarily have to fix everything. The art is great, and th...more
Yeah.
Maggie does well. She makes some misfit friends and learns to be a misfit. She learns she doesn't necessarily have to fix everything. The art is great, and th...more
Feb 03, 2013
David
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
homeschooled teenagers haunted by ghosts
Maggie is a fourteen-year-old girl who was homeschooled, like her three brothers, until her mother abandoned the family and took off. Now Maggie (whose father is the police chief) has to go to high school for the first time. Besides dealing with the usual trials of being the new kid at school, she's also haunted.
This graphic novel is mostly a sweet family + high school drama (Maggie needs to find herself, she's got issues with her mother having left, her brothers have friends and nemeses at high...more
This graphic novel is mostly a sweet family + high school drama (Maggie needs to find herself, she's got issues with her mother having left, her brothers have friends and nemeses at high...more
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this graphic novel. Good characters, lots of plots, moves briskly, nice artwork.
Except its feels introductory. It feels like there should be a second part to it. I figured out why: of the many plots this story as, nothing feels like a main plot. So while Ms. Hicks resolves everything, and no plot thread is left hanging in any significant way, when the story ends, you're left feeling a little unsatisfied.
In a way its a good thing, Ms. Hicks, in a relatively...more
Except its feels introductory. It feels like there should be a second part to it. I figured out why: of the many plots this story as, nothing feels like a main plot. So while Ms. Hicks resolves everything, and no plot thread is left hanging in any significant way, when the story ends, you're left feeling a little unsatisfied.
In a way its a good thing, Ms. Hicks, in a relatively...more
1 like · like · see review
Beware: spoilers!
I enjoy the artwork & character design, but like The War at Ellsmere, I felt like the story & characters just kind of fell flat. The author writes really flimsy stereotypes and doesn't ever wrap anything up.
Why in the world should we care about or even identify with Maggie? She is boring (but she likes Alien), unapproachable, and she has no reason to be so unpleasant.
Yes, her mom left, and that's sad. But she wasn't close to her mom anyways. For some reason she was com...more
I enjoy the artwork & character design, but like The War at Ellsmere, I felt like the story & characters just kind of fell flat. The author writes really flimsy stereotypes and doesn't ever wrap anything up.
Why in the world should we care about or even identify with Maggie? She is boring (but she likes Alien), unapproachable, and she has no reason to be so unpleasant.
Yes, her mom left, and that's sad. But she wasn't close to her mom anyways. For some reason she was com...more
*Warning* A spoiler of some kind will more than likely follow…
Maggie doesn’t want to enter the 9th grade after being homeschooled her whole life, but since her brothers started high school at the same age she has no choice in the matter. Her three older brothers go to the same school and they have all made their own school friends over the years but Maggie has never known any friends besides her brothers. After a few days of being alone she makes friends with the spunky Lucy and her brother Alis...more
Maggie doesn’t want to enter the 9th grade after being homeschooled her whole life, but since her brothers started high school at the same age she has no choice in the matter. Her three older brothers go to the same school and they have all made their own school friends over the years but Maggie has never known any friends besides her brothers. After a few days of being alone she makes friends with the spunky Lucy and her brother Alis...more
Maggie McKay was homeschooled her entire life, but now it's her first day of high school. Her dad's just become the police chief, her mother has run off, and her three older brothers have their own lives. The oldest, Daniel, is particularly busy with the school play. She makes a couple of friends, but the woman haunting her has been becoming more actively lately and it's bothering Maggie.
Faith Erin Hicks' newest graphic novel, originally serialized online, is terrific. The paranormal touches don...more
Faith Erin Hicks' newest graphic novel, originally serialized online, is terrific. The paranormal touches don...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Pienimuotoinen kuvaus sarjakuvaromaanin muodossa teinitytöstä, joka siirtyy kotikoulutuksesta lukioon. Maggien äiti on juuri jättänyt perheensä, isä on työskentelee poliisina ja Maggie on viettänyt koko nuoruutensa kolmen isoveljensä kanssa. Maggien opettajana toimineen äidin menettäminen ja uuteen kouluun meneminen eivät ole aivan helppoja asioita, joten koulun aloitus on melkoisen pelottavaa.
Lukiossa on vaikea saada ystäviä, kun sinne tulee aivan uutena. Maggie tutustuu pikku hiljaa punkkarit...more
Lukiossa on vaikea saada ystäviä, kun sinne tulee aivan uutena. Maggie tutustuu pikku hiljaa punkkarit...more
I'm giving this four stars, to some extent despite my better judgment. Friends With Boys is probably Faith Erin Hicks' best solo project to date, and she's a beloved web/print comics creator whose work got me into webcomics and indie graphic novels in a big way back in high school.
Fans will recognize elements from Hicks' early work as well as her autobiography; Maggie's personal journey gives the book a emotionally solid core. There's a lot of great stuff in here about families, friends, gender...more
Fans will recognize elements from Hicks' early work as well as her autobiography; Maggie's personal journey gives the book a emotionally solid core. There's a lot of great stuff in here about families, friends, gender...more
Full of teen angst and fear about finding her tribe, it's easy to identify with Maggie as she begins her first year of high school after being home schooled. The catch? Maggie's also being haunted by a local ghost.
Hicks' black and white marker art is perfect for this coming-of-age tale. Her character's wide-eyed faces are pleasantly imperfect. Maggie's older brother isn't perfectly sized, and he's the most popular character in the book.
I appreciate that Hicks uses familiar tropes of high school...more
Hicks' black and white marker art is perfect for this coming-of-age tale. Her character's wide-eyed faces are pleasantly imperfect. Maggie's older brother isn't perfectly sized, and he's the most popular character in the book.
I appreciate that Hicks uses familiar tropes of high school...more
Loved:
The Art
Our Main Character
The Subject of Homeschooler moving to High School
The story of a girl trying to come to grips with losing her mother.
The only thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars was the fact that the ending seemed so unresolved. I had a lot of questions.
-I love genre fiction, but I never got enough payoff with the "ghost" storyline in this book to understand why it was added to what was otherwise a very complete contemporary YA story.
-"Friends with Boys" as the title gives...more
The Art
Our Main Character
The Subject of Homeschooler moving to High School
The story of a girl trying to come to grips with losing her mother.
The only thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars was the fact that the ending seemed so unresolved. I had a lot of questions.
-I love genre fiction, but I never got enough payoff with the "ghost" storyline in this book to understand why it was added to what was otherwise a very complete contemporary YA story.
-"Friends with Boys" as the title gives...more
First things first, hate the title. It makes it sound so full of teeny annoying drama. This isn't that.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the gushing.
Art:
Love the art. Reminds me of Hopeless Savages and Scott Pilgrim/Lost at Sea. Fantastic style!
Characters:
Definitely like the big rambling family. Again, like Hopeless Savages. I'm drawn to big crazy families. Hmm. Wonder why.
It was a family that felt so real though, not only how they interact but also when. The way truth and privacy...more
Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the gushing.
Art:
Love the art. Reminds me of Hopeless Savages and Scott Pilgrim/Lost at Sea. Fantastic style!
Characters:
Definitely like the big rambling family. Again, like Hopeless Savages. I'm drawn to big crazy families. Hmm. Wonder why.
It was a family that felt so real though, not only how they interact but also when. The way truth and privacy...more
Maggie is a teenage girl who's staring her first day of high school after her mother (who home schooled all four of her children) skipped out of town, leaving Maggie to actually interact with other teenagers besides her three brothers: Daniel, Zander, and Lloyd. Contemplating heavily, her dad (a policeman) promises her that everything will be alright, but that easier said than done. On her way to school she encounters a ghost that's been "stalking" her since she was little, when the ghost doesn'...more
Maggie has always been homeschooled, and now it's time to start public high school. Naturally she's nervous, particularly since apparently she has never had a female friend, and as far as the book is concerned, she seems to have never had any friends outside of her three older brothers. Maggie becomes friends with two punk kids at school, one of whom sort of bullied one of Maggie's brothers, and there's also the fact that she's being stalked by the ghost of a 19th century widow to deal with.
To...more
To...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What was the point of the ghost? | 4 | 14 | May 19, 2013 06:43am | |
| 2013 Hub Reading ...: Friends with Boys | 4 | 13 | Feb 22, 2013 08:58am |
Born in the wilds of British Columbia, the young Faith frolicked among the Sasquatch native to the province before moving to Ontario at age five. There she was homeschooled with her three brothers, and developed an unnatural passion for galloping around on horseback, though never without a proper helmet (because you only get one skull). After twenty years of suffering through Ontario’s obscenely h...more
More about Faith Erin Hicks...
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