Worst Friends Forever

Leon the Extraordinary #2

by Jamar Nicholas

Leon struggles with a super ego -- and a super secret! -- in the second graphic novel in Jamar Nicholas's action-packed, heartfelt, and joyously funny series. After saving his classmates from The Monocle, and now that he has access to tons of cool crime-fighting gadgets, Leon is the superhero his school needs. Or at least... he thinks he is. Leon's vigil-antics make Mom and Principal Principle angry, but even worse, Leon is avoiding his best friend, Carlos, to keep Mom's superhero identity a secret. Can Leon dig deep and rediscover his heart and common sense? Or will his bad behavior reach a point of no return?

Genres: Graphic Novels

240 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Jamar Nicholas is a Philadelphia-based artist and educator. He has dedicated his career to empowering young people, helping them create their own comic books and cartoons.

He shares a home with his lovely girlfriend and their cat, who has a heart-shaped patch of fur on her chest.

Reviews

[Steph]

I really enjoyed this. When friendships fall apart and Leon’s world seems to be imploding, can he fix things? The pages in this are so well done! Love the set up for the next book! My class are gonna be thrilled that I’m finished this! Leon is a star in my class!

[Olivia]

WORST FRIENDS FOREVER is an intriguing graphic novel about a young, aspiring hero. Leon is 10 years old and determined to be a superhero like his mother. He works on stopping bullies at school, but he doesn't seem to be going about things the right way. His mother and principal are trying to help advise him, but Leon feels like he might know best - even though things seem to be getting worse. When his former BFF makes a comic about him, Leon is faced with the way he is coming off and has some decisions to make about who he will be.

What I loved: This was overall an engaging story and idea - a young superhero who wants to make a difference in his school and stop bullies! As a 10-year-old, Leon still has a lot to learn, and his mother and principal are trying their best to help him. As Leon knows they were also superheroes, he is willing to listen, although not always take, their advice. He definitely felt true to his age, and themes around bullies and friendship will definitely resonate with the intended audience.

Leon is struggling with friendships, and as the reader can see, this is often due to him being caught up in his own interests and not considering them or their feelings at times. When confronted with who he is becoming, Leon begins to learn this tough lessons. The book also takes the reader into the lives of some of Leon's friends, mainly Clem whose family is very showy and brought her along onto a reality show that she is very wary about, and Carlos, who has tried very hard to stay close to him.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, I found the story a bit tough to follow sometimes as the writing was almost too sparse. The gist comes across, but I almost wanted more context or explanations to more easily follow along with what was happening and why (particularly emotions/motivations).

Final verdict: Overall, WORST FRIENDS FOREVER is an intriguing graphic novel about friendship and trying to do what is right that will work well for the intended middle grade audience.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Stephen]

This is the follow-up book to Leon The Extraordinary that came out in October of 2024. I absolutely love the first book and was eager to sit down and dive into the second one. What I love about Jamar Nicholas series is that it is age appropriate for all but yet has layers of what someone older can take from it as well. I will say before you start, I feel the Star Wars original trilogy vibe as this volume ends with a cliffhanger. (Very much like my favorite movie Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.) The artwork is great, and the pacing is excellent as well. I found myself emersed in the book much like the first one and loving not just the characters but the development over the span of book 1 and now this volume. This follow-up is to be highly praised and not slept on! Cannot wait for volume 3!

[Pam]

Graphic Novel
Leon is back but struggling with balancing being a hero and friendships. He gets caught in the trap of thinking he has to take on all of the bullies and be the only hero at his school. This leads to a hard lesson when he loses his best friend, Carlos, and has to figure out how to change his ways. Middle grade readers will appreciate the humor and the adventures. Love the cliffhanger ending.

[Ms. Yingling]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

[Dpalange44]

Liked it better than the first.
Had a ‘To Be Continued’ so there will be a third one.

[James C]

A thrilling tale of 2 Best friends 1 is a superhero.

[Cherese]

Solid middle grade graphic novel. It made me want to read more from this series.