libreroaming's Reviews > Mixed-Up

I received a free copy from NetGalley for review.

"Mixed-Up" is a realistic graphic novel that follows Stella as she begins a new grade and discovers she is falling behind in reading. While her friends enthusiastically devour the new guidebook for their favorite show, Stella can barely get her homework done, and feigns disinterest in the book and game to hide her embarrassment. This book is a wonderful exploration for how a child with dyslexia can struggle without the proper accommodations and learning techniques. Books where children explore disabilities/neurodivergence are popular with most middle grade readers. "El Deafo" and "Guts" being the most popular, but the OCD-protagonist of "Just Roll With It" also is a big hit for readers.

The best thing about "Mixed-Up" is the use of Open Dyslexic font, specifically designed to make the words easier to process without mixing them up. I also appreciated illustrator Brittney Williams making sure Stella and her two friends were always color coded for that extra context clue in reading the pictures. It's easy to see how invested the creative team is in making this book accessible to those with learning disabilities like dyslexia. The strength, and what some might find as a slight let down, is how prominent Stella's journey over dealing with her dyslexia is to the graphic novel. While her strained friendship with her friends is part of the plot's stakes, it is entirely tied into hiding her struggle with reading, and once the secret is revealed they quickly make up. The book is very streamlined to focusing on that one plot. I appreciate that Garcia takes such a measured pace to explaining how a diagnosis isn't the easy solution to adapting to dyslexia, but the start of a journey, but I also understand some readers may want some supplemental material to round out the story.