On Guard!: A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel

by Cassidy Wasserman

Middle school can feel like a battlefield! 7th grader Grace is trying to find her footing at school...but between a mean girl ex-bff and her parents divorce, things are pretty rocky. Is the fencing club the answer to finding her people...and maybe even herself?  Suit up for this sharp-witted graphic novel debut about friendship trouble, family, and fencing!

On guard? Ready? Fence!

Grace is not ready for a new school year. Especially since her BFF Ava dropped her at the end of last year. To make things worse, the dust is still settling from her parents divorce, and she and her mom are not getting along (at all!). Now she has no friends, no hobbies (band was Ava's thing), and home feels just as complicated as school! There's not a single place Grace can just relax and be herself. Until she sees the school's fencing club practicing. They look so sure of themselves. So steady. Not to mention, they have super cool...swords? Needles? What are they called? Grace is pretty sure she wants to find out, but what if she isn't good enough? Ava was always the talented one. It may not solve everything, but if she can get past her worries, could this be a place Grace can finally belong and be herself?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Sports, Divorce, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2025

About the author

Cassidy Wasserman is an artist in the game industry and is making her Graphic novel debut with On Guard! When she’s not creating, Cassidy enjoys épée fencing, listening to musicals, and agility training with her dog, Zag. Cassidy lives in the mountains of Maine, where she is working on her next graphic novel.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventh grade is off to a rough start for Grace Elizabeth Collins. Her best friend dumped her at the end of sixth grade, so she needs to find new friends. Her parents got divorced over the summer, and moving between households is getting harder as the friction in her relationship with her mother keeps getting worse.

The school fencing club catches her eye as a place to meet new people, and she slowly realizes that the lessons she learns while training and competing with her épée are applicable to other areas of her life.

A solid middle-school book with a good moral and a sad but hopeful portrait of an antagonistic relationship between a mother and a daughter.


(Best of 2025 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:

• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2025
• Publishers Weekly 2025 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2025: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the NPR list.)

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute middle school graphic novel.

It is about a seventh grade girl whose parents have just gotten divorced. She isn't getting along with her mother. And her former best friend won't talk to her. She is completely alone (except for an amazing dad).

Luckily she discovers fencing. She meets some friends. And I really thought that the fencing storyline was so fun.

The illustrations were nice. Very quick read.

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

I'm curious - is fencing a popular thing in middle and high schools? The concept is cool, but I don't think I've ever seen a fencing team in real life, and I don't know of any schools that have a team. Am I just oblivious? There has been such an uptick in books for this age range with this concept.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for middle grade students. It tackles a lot of problems that come up during middle school. Changes in friendships, adjust into a new divorce, and having problems getting along with parents are a few that the book focuses on. I especially enjoyed reading about the fencing club and learning new things about the sport.

[Kennedy Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so my sister fences, so I was like ok I’ll read it, but WOW 😮.
This is a very well written and illustrated book. I recommend to anyone who fences or doesn’t, you have to read this book!!

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy a good graphic novel as much as the next person, but I tend to be quite picky about the ones I’m drawn to. Middle grade and YA graphic novels usually hit the sweet spot for me as a reader—and On Guard by Cassidy Wasserman was definitely a success.

I suspected it would be, especially when I noticed a blurb on the cover from Lucy Knisley, who is hands-down my favorite graphic novelist and author.

On Guard follows Grace, who’s having a rough time in middle school. Her best friend has dropped her for a new group, and her parents are going through a divorce. Hoping to find new friends and a fresh start, she decides to take up fencing—and discovers so much more along the way.

Not only did I love the illustrations and storytelling, but I was struck by how this book tackled some truly hard-hitting moments that I haven’t often seen in graphic novels or books for younger readers. In particular, the depiction of Grace’s relationship with her mother stood out to me. So often in middle-grade stories, we see either wonderful mother-daughter relationships or narratives where the father is the one who’s lacking. I appreciated that in On Guard, it’s the mother who is struggling, and that not everything in Grace’s life gets neatly tied up with a happy ending. That’s real life—and seeing it reflected on the page is something I believe many readers will connect with.

Interestingly, the author even discusses some of these themes at the end of the book, which I found insightful.

I highly recommend On Guard. I think kids will find it relatable, and I’ll definitely be adding it to my school library collection.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. There was a lot to like in this graphic novel, the new friendship Grace finds, how her old friendship is ultimately handled, and seeing her gain confidence in a sport I was happy to learn a little more about, all of that made for a great read.

But it’s Grace’s home life that really stays with the reader. Her parents are divorced, she’s starting to be shuttled back and forth between them. She has a great, loving relationship with her dad, things are very rocky though between Grace and her mom. The mom seemingly wants time with her daughter but whenever she gets it, she either proceeds to ignore Grace or treat her in damaging ways, those scenes so heartbreakingly real, you feel how each encounter with her mom impacts Grace emotionally and you see it in her expressive eyes. You’ll wish you could reach out and hug this adorably illustrated kid. I was so glad to learn this is the first in a series, that we’ll get to check in with Grace and see how things continue to evolve for her.

[Neha Thakkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Middle school is hard. Losing a best friend and an overbearing mother make it almost impossible! Great coming of age story!

[Skye Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good graphic novel!!
It is so good that I couldn’t put it down and finished in one sitting!!😄
The art is really good!
Definitely recommend!
This is my honest review.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story about Grace navigating her personal life and middle school, I look forward to reading about her next chapter!

[Stephanie Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great graphic novel about the relationships between mothers and daughters and about how you go about making new friends after your best friend dropped you at the end of last school year. The illustrations are really good and the story is really great. I love the relationship between grace and her dad and how it showed a realistic depiction of divorce and not having the mother being the stereotype of primary caretaker. Also all the fencing facts were great to read about since I didn’t know anything really about the sport and I loved that grace realized that maybe her and her best friend ava just grew apart and that is okay. All in all a really great read.
Thanks to Random House Graphic and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace’s best friend Ava has dumped her. Her parents have gotten divorced, and she has to go from one house to the other, and her mother “says” that she wants to spend time with her, but often ends up on her phone, or talking about something else.

She can’t eat in the cafeteria, because that’s where Ava and her old friends are, and you can’t eat in the library, so she ends up int he gym, watching the fencing matches. And that is how it starts.

Grace finds that she loves fencing, and she makes friends there. And she gathers courage to tell her mother how she really feels.

This is a great story. There are so many stories of friendships ending, sure, but this is a story of moving past that, and not dwelling on the past, and realizing that she has nothing to fear from speaking her mind. Divorce is so hard on kids, but having parents fighting is harder.

Although this book says that is is part of the Marshall MIddle School series, this is actually a debut novel, and is wonderfully clear on the feelings one goes through when having a complicated relationship with one parent, as well as navigating making new friendships. I also like how the author slipped in a non-binary character in, without making a big fuss about it. They were just them, and then the story moves on.

I look forward to anything the author comes up with next. And of course, this made me cry, so that has that going for it. 🙂

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book will be published on the 10th of June 2025.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of fencing and family is one that I’ll have you in your feels. It’s a story out there for girls that don’t have the Gilmore Girls type of relationship with their mom. Its also about learning that not all friendships last forever but the best you can do is be you and try new things. This book was real and heartfelt and there will be girls out there that need this book, and it will be there lifeline while they are trying to figure out middle school.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I can’t control my opponent’s moves. I can only control my own!”
🤺
Grace has been sad all summer since her ex-BFF told her she didn’t want to be friends anymore. Starting a new year with no friends is hard, but on top of that her parents just got divorced and the custody issues are weighing heavily on Grace. Joining the fencing team starts a new chapter for Grace as she makes new friends, finds her passion and learns to stand up for herself against her mother, who struggles to truly be a mother at all.
🤺
This MG graphic novel will connect with so many tweens and teens who have their own complicated relationships with parents, divorce and/or custody arrangements. It felt truly authentic since lots of it came from the author’s own childhood. I loved the artwork and will add this to my middle school library when it releases June 10!

CW: divorce (theme), domestic violence/assault

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun coming of age story that has the usual coming of age goodies, but adds fencing, modern characters and a mother/daughter relationship that is nothing like June Clever and the Bev! Overall, a good graphic novel that is relatable and fresh.

[laurel! · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley for the arc!

caught myself smiling while reading this…. i wish i had friends like that in middle school

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grace no longer has a best friend, since they grew apart last year. Her former best friend has a group of friends with a new best friend. Her parents also divorced. Grace lives with her dad, who gets her and gently pushes her to expand her social network. She finds out that she will have to switch parental houses every week, and her mom does not seem interested in Grace. Instead, Grace is dragged on errands and gets to hear her mom brag about her, without really making any connection to getting to know her kid better. Grace can’t handle the stress of eating in the cafeteria, so takes her lunch in the gym, where she watches the fencing team practices. She signs up for the fencing team at Club Day. She slowly gets to know other team mates, and begins to really have fun. Her relationship with her mom comes to a head, and she blocks her mom’s number in her phone. Her mom retaliates by canceling the phone service. Grace confides in her new friend, whose moms are also divorced. She also confides with her dad. She invites her mom to come to a fencing bout.

[Jennybeast · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a lot of things I liked about this book -- Grace is relatable, her struggles with her relationship with her mom and her former friend Ava are tough and interesting, her excitement about a new sport and a new friend and dealing with triggers are appealing. I also love the emphasis on fencing.

However, the book states multiple times that "fencing was in the original games in Ancient Greece", which is untrue. I think I've seen some of the very broad online scholarship that supports the origins of fencing in Ancient Greece, and 1: not only does it not claim that fencing was in the first Olympics, because it wasn't, it also 2: takes a broad stance of interpreting any form of non-lethal stick or sword fighting as fencing, which is absurd. There is enough terrible scholarship in the world without adding this lie to middle grade reader's understanding of the world. I have been a fencer for more than 30 years, and I can't recommend this cool book to kids because of this. My disappointment is enormous. What a bummer.

[Sesana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Middle grade graphic novel that features fencing. The fencing action is really fun, but it isn't the point of the story. Wasserman actually faked me out early on by making me think this would be about a friendship breaking up, but it isn't really. Yes, the main character is no longer speaking to her former best friend, but that just kind of sets the scene. It makes her more self conscious in how she interacts with her age peers, which does get dealt with. But really, the main confict is with her immature mother. Somewhat refreshingly, Wasserman doesn't really give this conflict a happily ever after or even a total villain arc for the mom. Instead, the main character comes to terms with her less close releationship with her mother. A lot of kids are going to be able to see themselves here, with a parent who loves them but isn't equipped to be a fully supportive parent to them.

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“On Guard!” is a charming graphic novel with a colourful and pretty art style.

It follows Grace, a middle schooler dealing with the aftermath of her best friend quitting their friendship. Meanwhile, she also navigates a strained relationship with her mother.

As she starts fencing at the beginning of the new school year, Grace not only learns a new sport but also finds a new group of friends and a sense of belonging.

This is a heartfelt story about friendship, resilience, and finding your place. It’s a great middle grade novel.


Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[petitepageturner · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Guard! is a heartfelt graphic novel which is perfect for middle grade. It is about navigating transitions, grit and perseverance, all while adjusting to middle school!

Grace has had a tumultuous summer in which her parents divorced and her best friend ditched her. Forced to weather seventh grade alone, Grace flounders then flourishes in finding new friendship and a new sport that she excels at.

This graphic novel also unpacks difficult mother-daughter relationships and the fallout of divorce and how that affects a tween.

Such a lovely read, thank you to the publishers for an advanced e-copy!

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I relate to this one a lot, so it was very sad. It's not easy to deal with parents who don't have a good relationship with their kids, and in many cases, unlike this novel, they don't realize how much they hurt their kids and never apologize. Grace is ok with her parents' divorce, but she just doesn't get along with her mom. She also lost her best friend who now has other priorities and friends. Joining the fencing club was a positive step in many ways, but I just wished that people would like the others for whom they are not for what they have to prove, accomplish, or do to please. The title gains a deeper meaning.

[Sophy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our main character is going through a lot—her parents are getting divorced, and she and her best friend are no longer speaking. Now, she’s faced with the challenge of making new friends, so she decides to join a club. Even though she starts building new connections, she still struggles with insecurities left over from her past friendship.

As the story progresses, we get to see how she confronts those insecurities and grows both as a person and a friend. It’s a thoughtful and relatable story about change, healing, and the courage it takes to open up again.

[Katie Reilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful middle grade graphic novel that tackles changes in friendship, adjusting to a new divorce, having a difficult relationship with a parent, and finding a place safe space to learn and grow. Oh, and fencing!

[Heather Marvel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fencing, mother/daughter relations, middle school, divorce, this graphic novel has it all and tackles it brilliantly. I especially loved the way fencing strategies were used to tie into the way the character was dealing with her personal relationships.

[Andrew Heitland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining!!

[Dee Reading Wallflower]

Read with my son

[Meggie Ramm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grace is trying to figure out middle school after her parents divorce and best friend dumped her for the popular crowd. While avoiding the anxiety of a crowded cafeteria, she stumbles upon the school’s fencing team, which might give her the skills to survive the school year. 

Sometimes kids and parents are assholes and don't get redeemed. Grace has no emotional outlet outside of her dad, who has to do all the parenting since Grace's mom has checked out post divorce. This isn't exactly a fun book, as the reader sees Grace’s mom fail in a lot of scenarios, but it did make me feel seen as a child of divorce. And I learned a lot about fencing, to the point where I wanted more parts about fencing! Good for folks who liked Swing. 

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle-schooler deals with losing her best friend and drama surrounding her newly-divorced by joining the fencing team, which helps her tremendously.

[D.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the most engaging part of this story was the turbulent relationship between Grace and her mother. The fencing and the middle school drama are more in the background (something the author acknowledged in their note). Not only are her parents newly divorced, but her mom in particular either has no time for her or only criticizes her.

Some kids have parents with problematic parenting styles who aren’t going to turn into the lovable Disney parent overnight. This is going to be very relatable to some. I also like that the resolution wasn’t cut and dry or tied with a bow. It leaves room for the gray.