Bina writes original songs for them to play. They even started a band together, with Darcy on keyboards and Bina playing guitar. Darcy is from Brooklyn, and the two eighth-grade girls both love music. for a few months, she and Bina have become fast friends. I realized too late that this is the sequel to another middle-grade graphic novel, All Summer Long, that I hadn't read, but I was still able to enjoy this story about friendship and the beginnings of romance.Įven though Darcy has only lived in L.A.

Each girl learns to accept her own flaws and celebrate her own strengths, and the twins develop their own identities while still maintaining a close relationship.Įarlier in March, I read All Together Now by Hope Larson. There's just enough conflict here to keep kids engaged, with a happy but not predictable ending. The story and its characters feel real, with true-to-life challenges and flawed people. Between Maureen and Francine, kids will be able to relate to issues of academic struggles, friendship, self-confidence, and of course, sibling squabbles. I really enjoyed this story that is perfect for kids facing all the new challenges of middle school. Gradually, Maureen makes some new friends and discovers that maybe things aren't as perfect as they seem for Francine, either, as the two girls learn more about themselves and each other and finally breach the new gap between them. Suddenly, it's sister versus sister, with their joint friends feeling caught in the middle. Then, things get even worse when they both decide to run for President of Student Council. To top it off, Maureen is stuck in Cadet Corps, while Fran is taking regular PE, and Maureen is terrible at marching. Maureen feels lost in the new school without her sister by her side and is devastated by the changes. They've always been inseparable, but now, Francine wants to be called Fran, is in different classes than Maureen, and wants to establish a separate identity. Identical twins Maureen and Francine are starting middle school (6th grade) together, but suddenly, everything seems different between them. I just finished reading Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright.

Twins varian johnson book 2