First Crush

The New Girl #2

by Cassandra Calin

Cassandra Calin returns with this charming and comical follow-up to The New Girl, her long-form graphic novel debut that became a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Indie bestseller! This middle-grade graphic novel about crushing and being crushed is the perfect next read for fans of Guts by Raina Telgemeier, Fruitcake by Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza, and Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang.

Lia is finally feeling settled into her new life. Her friends are amazing, her French is improving, and her periods... ugh, those are still terrible. But Lia's crush, Julien, is noticing her. Lia thinks he likes her, but she can't tell for sure. And while she's obsessing over him, Lia's not noticing another person's growing crush on HER. With so many big feelings and even bigger changes, could things get any worse?



In this sophomore follow-up to the breakout hit The New Girl, Lia's relationships -- with her friends, her crush, her mom, and even herself -- are all tested like never before.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction, Coming Of Age, Comics

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2026

About the author

Cassandra Calin is a Romanian-born Canadian artist. Based in Montreal, she's a comic artist, illustrator, and a graphic designer. “I draw comics inspired by my life and experiences,” Calin writes on her website. “I enjoy laughing at my awkward self and ranting about silly misfortunes such as being born with curly hair.

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been looking forward to the second edition to this series for about year and it didn’t disappoint! This series is like a warm hug. I think the scene and conversation around Lia’s period and doctors appointment is such an important topic because it shows medical gaslighting starts young. As a woman with endometriosis the scenes at the doctors office where incredibly real and relatable, and I do hope this conversation continues into the 3rd novel.

[Yolotzin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second-hand embarrassment was insane. CHILD!!!!!!!!!!! WHY ARE YOU SO DESPERATE FOR THIS KID??!??! It was a hard read. And the sobbing after?? Please. The 'heartbreak' was so dragged out.
It's hard to relate because I was never so boy-crazy at that age. And my mom was always very honest about boys/men. Grew up watching plenty of Lifetime movies, so to cry over a boy? Unfathomable. I get the insecurity, but, oof, it was hard to read her getting jealous over a friend and then trying to control him. Clearly not ready for a relationship, so stop.
Also, FUCK that doctor! I kinda thought there'd be more build up/continuation there.

[SH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fell in love with this series last year and the second installment did not disappoint!! A fav

[Meliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one, but a cute read. And the girls in this graphic novel are the best dressed 12 year olds in the world.

[Mady · Rating 5 out of 5]

And now to something completely different! This is a graphic novel for (older) middle graders.
Reading this feels like eating chocolate - the best craving but with 0 calories! Loved the art work, the story and the fact that Lia is not perfect.
I’d love for this series to continue.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume in this graphic novel series by Cassandra Calin is as great as the first! Lia struggles with growing pains - takes bad decisions, disappoints people, is jealous and petty - but she learns from her mistakes. As usual, I appreciate the painful menstruation rep and the difficulty in getting a proper diagnosis.

[Amelia Willes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh this series has my heart🥹💕 It’s the perfect middle-grade contemporary graphic novel and I wish I could have read this when I was younger. I will be eagerly awaiting the next one!!

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a star off of this one for outing, even though it was accidental. Wan Yin is forced to be the bigger person again and I didn't think Lia really reflected on how big of a deal that was. The friends continue to be the best part of this series for me. I think the author is doing a great job of showing healthy relationships and coping skills. If there are more of these, I would continue to read them.

[꒰აlucy grace໒꒱]

YO WHAT MY PRE HOLD ON LIBBY IS GOING UP RN

[Carolina C santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had this book available when growing up. I'm glad now I can read it through my kid who LOVES the series. The story and the drawings are so good.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never seen such an accurate depiction of middle school

[Veda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the little romance between Lia and Julien but personally I agree with Julien they should DEFINITELY NOT HAVE GONE TOGETHER. Lia should be with wan yin they would be so cute. Just saying personally.

[IMF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Cassandra’s work. She’s mega talented and hilarious. I’ve met her at conventions and everything. I liked her first volume a lot, even not being at the age it was written for.

However, I felt really disappointed and bored while reading this second volume. Those new teen characters hadn’t even had their first period yet, were still kids, and most of what they could think and talk about were boys. I was once their age and I definitely didn’t only think about crushes. Literally one of them had a LONG DISTANCE relationship, a "real one", at 12 yers old (maybe younger?). What the hell? I really hope kids that age aren’t really living like that nowadays, I’m glad I wasn’t.

The best bits of the book were definitely when the girls were doing activities together, without talking about crushes, which was RARE.

Also, are people still writing about girls/women having rivalries/fighting over boys/men? That’s SO old. Women need to support each other over men every single time. The system was built to have women hate each other so we’re split up and alone and more fragile. I understand that, at the very end, Lia and the other girl made peace, but I didn’t like their plot one bit.

3 stars for her art and hard work. But no stars for what the line of thought became of.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenage angst and navigating first crushes. I enjoy that this book doesn’t paint sunny rainbows over everything, it’s important for kids to have access to stories that show the complex and imperfect reality of relationships. I don’t think Lia truly learns or makes up for her mistakes in this book, it’s nice that her friends forgave her but I’m not sure why they did. Especially Wan Yin, poor thing. Cassandra Calin always blows me away with her technical ability at comics, everything from the colors, to character designs, to page layouts was perfect and I hope to one day draw this well.

[ೃ࿔amarah⋆༄.° · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

#finishedthisinonesitting✌🏽 (aka 1hr)

i’m too old for this (obviously) but not by much lol so the plot was jeuvenile but i liked how lia actually learned from her mistakes and had to wallow in her shame instead of her problems being fixed a chapter later

the message was pretty corny but you can’t win em all

I LOVE THE ARTSTYLE OF THIS SERIES SO MUCH ITS SO CUTE AND SATISFYING AND I LOVE THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL WHEN DRAWING EVERYTHING

anyways this was a super easy and quick read, mostly for tweens tho (but not me cuz i’m a teen 🥹🫰)

buh-bye twins ✌🏽

[fall girly (school hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

the next book didn’t disappoint it was js as good as the first one

[Book_Haven (click on my pfp to see the full meme) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what she saw in Julian, cause that guy was UGLY

[Lectura Amena · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Amo las ilustraciones de Cassandra Calin! 😍

Me encantó esta nueva historia de Lia y sus amigas. Me gusta mucho cómo se representan los problemas que atraviesan durante la adolescencia, esa etapa en la que todo parece complicado y muchas veces los jóvenes se sienten incomprendidos.

La historia consigue atraparte, conectar con sus personajes y hacerte entender sus conflictos. Poco a poco les vas tomando cariño y terminas involucrándote con lo que les sucede.

Y, por supuesto, tengo que destacar las ilustraciones. ¡Me parecen de las mejores que he visto en una novela gráfica! Definitivamente, quiero leer muchas más historias de Cassandra Calin. ¡Necesito más! ❤️

[Leesdromen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reallly enjoyed this second book! I just loved to be in this story and with these characters!

I know I’m gonna be re-reading these Graphic Novels a lot!🥰

[jo 🏹 · Rating 5 out of 5]

the sequel to new girl is perfect!!! truly love the essence of girlhood and the beauty of friendship! truly a must read!!! <3

[Nelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

the characters were accurately immature

[RomanceReader :) · Rating 2.25 out of 5]

NO. wan yin (i hope thats her name) deserved better! she forgave lia TWICE after ghosting her and spilling her secrets! lia is super annoying and doesnt deserve all this forgiveness. also she told her crush she loved him, like what the heck? the art was good though, and i liked the first book.

[Aubriana Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to the first of the series, this sequel is a quick and mostly light-hearted read. I knew from reading the first that the author was likely to continue the plot point of the main character’s female friend having a crush on her, and I was correct. I still enjoyed the rest of the book for its beautiful art, open discussion of periods, and depictions of friendship, that one facet of the story just kept it from being four stars for me.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guyyys this book is sooooooo good I almost cried because Lia thought Julien liked a girl named Jade and I was sooo shocked that Ean Yin said that she liked Lia and I really wanted Julien to date Lia but he didn’t also Lia is moving back to Romania which I really sad because her friends are going to miss her but at least she let her friends sign her shirt. Anyways I really loved this book and I think everyone will love it.

[Sydney Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first book but was genuinely disappointed with lia in this book.

[Léonie Boudreault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonne suite! J’ai préféré le premier, mais j’étais très contente de retrouver ces personnages!

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed as much as the first one. Love the characters and the art. Can’t wait for the next!

[Addy Mundahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so happy that they made a 2nd series hoping for a 3rd because it was such a cute book and it did not disappoint

[Snowy Staria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware of paragraphs! Skip to the overall thoughts portion if you want to skip the details.

Plot/Writing:
While the plot is rather simple, that does not mean it’s bad. It serves its purpose well, and is engaging. I am sure it will be relatable to a lot of girls who had crushes in school. Many parts of this book reminded me of my middle and high school self. This volume was more personally relatable to me than the first one. Except for Julien actually showing interest in Lia. None of the people I had crushes on in school ever seemed interested in me 😂

I like how the conflicts were written in this book. You could see both sides in almost all of them. In Wan Yin’s, I understood why Wan Yin felt betrayed, but I also felt bad for Lia, because she didn’t intend to out her, she slipped up. For her argument with Julien, when Lia told Julien to stop being friends with Jade, I was partly on Julien’s side, partly on Lia’s. I do think Julien should be able to have friends who are girls, and I can’t blame him for thinking they need a break, because Lia was acting overbearing and untrusting. However, Jade clearly was into him and was flirting with him, so I can’t blame Lia for getting jealous and feeling threatened. Plus, Jade was being incredibly rude to her, and Julien was not hearing her out and validating her feelings. If your significant other says someone is bullying them, you should hear them out, even if you’re friends with the other person. I think the two could have come to a compromise quicker, where Lia agrees to let him be friends with Jade, but he has to set clear boundaries with Jade and tell her he’s not interested in her. That’s what I would have done, at least. Anyways, during Zi Mei’s argument with Lia, I liked when Zi Mei told Lia the world doesn’t revolve around her, because she needed to be called out (Lia does acknowledge that later). I also think Zi Mei was being harsh in that same argument. In her fight with her mother, I could see why her mother would rather she prioritize school, but I also found it annoying how her mother made it seem like all the problems Lia was having lately was due to her crush. I could also understand why Lia was upset that her mother won’t let her make her own choices. In school, my mom also told me to prioritize school over relationships, and strongly discouraged getting into relationships. Except, unlike Lia, I agreed with my mother, and even though I wanted a relationship at a few points, I did not try to get into one, since I knew she was right. In all the arguments, both people have a point, and that’s how I think well-written arguments should be. The only conflict where I was only on one person’s side was when Iva said she might be going to private school, and Lia was trying to convince her not to, even though she wants to. That was selfish of her. She should have been more supportive when she told her that. That wasn’t an argument though, just a source of conflict.

Characters/Relationships:
My favorite character is Wan Yin. I felt so bad for her the entire book. I know what it feels like a bit, since I have liked a guy before who liked a different girl. However, I imagine it’s worse with Wan Yin, because at least when you like a boy who likes a girl, there’s a chance they might like you back. But when it’s a girl who likes a boy, you know they’re probably straight. Everytime Lia had a moment with Julien, I was just like “poor Wan Yin.” After her, probably Iva. She’s such a great friend.

I have no least favorite characters, other than Jade. I know she and Lia are chill now, but she didn't apologize, and I don't think she would have stopped being mean to Lia if Lia had not done something nice for her.

Art:
I love the art style. If the plot and characters were all annoying and awful, I would still read it because of how delicious this art is. I love the way they do highlights. The character’s expressions are so… expressive! Each panel has so much attention to detail, from the character’s outfits and hairstyles, to the backgrounds. I can tell there was a lot of love put into the art.

Overall Thoughts:
I love the art, and the characters and plot are relatable.

[Miriam · Rating 2.25 out of 5]

I feel weird giving this less than three stars cause I usually enjoy middle grade graphic novels, but what the hell was this?? I get that Lia is ~13 yo (I think she had a birthday party in the first book but I honestly can't remember how old she was) but she felt so immature most of the book. I can't believe she did Wan Yin dirty TWICE. Outing somone like that is BAD and the entire friend group should have taken Wan Yin's side. Wan Yin is better than me for forgiving her AGAIN.

Also, I get that the book is literally called First Crush and the author says that she took inspiration from her first heartbreak, but why is everyone so boy crazy? Wdym Iva had a long-distance boyfriend at TWELVE YEARS OLD?? And the fact that Julien was interested in Lia surprised me cause HE seemed too mature for his age. Most importantly, the whole Jade side plot seemed so cliché and forced. Mean pick me girls like that are still out there, so maybe this is part of the author's experience, but Lia kept saying that she wanted to be the bigger person and yet she always felt insecure around Jade. She had a very similar experience with Iva in the first book: when Lia misjudged her and it turned out to be a misunderstanding and then they became friends. Did she learn nothing from that?