![]() ![]() I loved seeing their friendship grow throughout the book. She realizes that Maggie might be having anxiety attacks and she helps her through them. Maggie's friend Clara is also super supportive and helpful for Maggie. But once she finally realizes that she needs help, therapy is portayed as something positive and useful. ![]() When her parents approach her about therapy, she doesn't think she needs it, mostly because of the stigmas that exist around mental illness and going to therapy. Like many kids, she's hesitant at first to actually ask for help. This was an absolutely adorable graphic novel! What I liked the most about it was the way it dealt with Maggie's OCD. To help make all of her decisions, she uses a d20 dice, but what happens when it doesn't give her the answer that she wants? Just Roll With It follows Maggie, a girl who struggles with OCD and is just trying to get through her first year in middle school. I also liked the information in the back matter about how the book was developed. (They still play, but now that they are fathers, less often.) I appreciated the incidental diversity in the characters. It took me back to the days when my sons were engrossed in Dungeons and Dragons. I liked the inclusion of the role playing game. I liked that we see how therapy helped Maggie. By the end of the book, she realizes she needs help and goes to see one. Her parents suggest she see a therapist, but despite the evidence, Maggie insists she is fine. She carries a 20 sided die with her and rolls it continuously to help her make decisions. Upon arriving home from school she engages in a ritual of switching the lights on and off. Maggie is controlled by a kind of magical thinking. As her anxiety increases, she starts to have trouble finishing homework. On the down side, one of her sisters might be leaving home, and there seems to be some kind of low crawling creature/monster lurking outside the school. She makes a new friend, joins an after school club, and seems to be settling in well. In spite of this, her new year in middle school starts out well. It is a story about a young girl with anxiety/OCD issues. We wanted the book to reflect our own experience: that mental illness can be scary and difficult, but it isn’t insurmountable, and the ones you love can help you through it.Thanks to Max at Completely Full Bookshelf for introducing me to this title. “We wanted to make characters that were serious, goofy, afraid, silly, and who reflected all the wacky and wonderful aspects of being in middle school. ![]() “It was important for us to reflect the world we live in-from diversity of body size, race, sexuality, etc, to diversity of how we take in the world around us,” added Durfey-Lavoie. I wanted this story to be something that shows how a lot of us live alongside our anxiety, and that the end goal of one's mental health journey doesn’t have to be ‘fixing’ yourself, but rather becoming the best version of you, anxiety and all.” “I was inspired by Svetlana Chmakova’s ‘Berry Brook Middle School’ series (Awkward / Brave / Crush) that highlights issues kids deal with but doesn’t belittle them. “JUST ROLL WITH IT aims to open a dialogue about mental health for young readers and give them some terminology to help navigate talking about it,” said Agarwal in a statement. But what happens when she can't roll the right numbers? Maggie is an avid tabletop gamer who relies on her trusty D20 die to navigate life's difficult choices. Just Roll With It follows the misadventures of Maggie, a girl whose struggles with anxiety and OCD have only been exacerbated by the pressures of middle school. ![]()
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