Crunch

By Kayla Miller

Pub Date: August 2022 ISBN: 978-0358393689 Page Count: 224 pages Publisher: Clarion Books Age Group: 8 – 12 years

Crunch is the fifth and latest graphic novel in the Click series by best-selling author Kayla Miller. In this latest installation we find the protagonist Olive trying to balance all her activities in a jam-packed schedule. Olive must balance guitar lessons, joining Berry Scouts, taking the lead on her school’s dress code reform and create a short film for an upcoming film festival. In the beginning Olive feels that she can do it all, as she states she likes being busy to her concerned mom. But soon our protagonist finds themselves gradually becoming burnt out as they find that there are not enough hours in the day to complete their tasks and be fully present for their activities and commitments. Olive finds it difficult to excel at her commitments as she and Willow fail to earn their merit badges for Berry Scouts, she has a nightmare about her balancing act of activities, and she almost messes up a fashion show to address reforming the school dress code when she falls asleep on her hosting duties. After the fashion show, Olive’s friends ask her if she needs help with any of her activities and she gladly accepts. After an insightful conversation with her friend Bree from camp, Olive also learns that she does not have to do it all and that she can bear to let some things go.

The simple drawing style and vibrant coloring make it appealing and gives Crunch a youthful feel with a target audience of kids and tweens. Miller does a wonderful job displaying time passing through panels that show walking the halls in between classes, attending meetings, and sitting down at dinner with family. These panels displaying time passing allow the reader to be more focused on Olive’s extracurricular activities when they enter the story. It also shows how little of time Olive has to truly devote herself to all of the extracurricular activities that she has committed herself to.

While the story has a target audience of kids and tweens, it can be relatable to anyone who has found themselves overwhelmed and burnt out. This story greatly models what being burnt out and feeling overwhelmed can look like as the protagonist struggles with time management and maintaining an active presence in their extracurricular activities. Olive lacked the foresight to realize she was committing to too many activities but was able to gain some insight in realizing that she cannot simply do it all even if the activities seem appealing and exciting. Miller is once again able to craft a likable and enjoyable tale as Olive endures another growing pain and overcomes it with the help and support of friends and wisdom from the adults in her life. They continue to follow the same formula for their storytelling with this book as with the rest of their popular series with setting up an issue, enduring said issue and finding resolve as the story ends. This brings appeal to those who prefer and enjoy series to standalones.

This graphic novel would be great for tweens and middle schoolers and the protagonist Olive will resonate well with tween girls. One would also recommend this book for the overachieving and overwhelmed child as the story has the potential to act as a mirror for the child. The book is also helpful at the end as tips are provided on tackling a to-do list to help readers “avoid the crunch and stay cool when things get busy”.