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Berrybrook Middle School #1-4
Berrybrook Middle School Box Set
Follow the Awkward tales of the students at Berrybrook Middle School as they Bravely face their everyday lives...even when they have a Crush! You can even write your own story in the Diary in this all-in-one box set!
- GenresGraphic Novels
888 pages, Paperback
Published October 29, 2019
2 people are currently reading
1703 people want to read
About the author
Svetlana Chmakova
38 books1,630 followersSvetlana Chmakova (Russian: Светлана Шмакова) (born 1979 in Russia) is a comic creator. She is best known for Dramacon, an original English-language (OEL) manga spanning three volumes and published in North America by Tokyopop. Her other work includes the 2-page The Adventures of CG for CosmoGIRL! magazine and the webcomic Chasing Rainbows for Girlamatic. Though born in Russia, she immigrated to Canada, where she graduated from the Sheridan College Classical Animation program, in 2002. She then began to publish her manga on the Internet, where her works were found by CosmoGirl! magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 16, 2021
A box set of all 4 Berrybrook stories.
Overall, this series is sweet and funny and a great look at middle school social life and growing up. Some laugh out loud moments, some moments to make your heart squeezy, overall just sweet and happy reads. Pretty much all are 5 stars reads (except for Diary, which wasn't a normal book, but an actual diary with supplemental short stories).
Awkward
Peppi is the new girl in town and finds her niche in the Art Club. Which has a serious rivalry with the Science Club across the hall. So, can she make friends with Jaime, a quiet kid from the Science Club, or are they too different? And will the rivalry destroy both clubs, or can them even come together? Deals with themes of friendships and cliques and being honest about making mistakes and apologizing.
Brave
Probably my favorite. Jenson is a side character in book 1, and here he gets his moment in the spotlight. This one is all about bullying and standing up for yourself. And not just brutal bullying, but name-calling, mean jokes, and more subtle, pervasive bullying. I love-love-loved it. He's so sweet and relatable and I'll admit, this one makes me choke up. No shame.
Crush
No, maybe this one's my favorite. Or maybe just my favorite character - I love Jorge. Such a sweet character, and totally confused by all this emotional nonsense. His facial expressions and cute little blushes are the best! Loved the themes of friendship and fighting/making up with friends, of bullying, of cliques and Mean Guys (no Mean Girls in this story, not even the Pep Squad girls!), and (of course) of first crushes.
Diary
Like I said above, a diary with short stories. Three stories about characters from the earlier books, with blank pages for journaling and sketching prompts, a blank calendar, etc. Only reason this one doesn't rate as highly is that I just wanted more. It's a great activity book, but when I love the stories so much, I just wanted more, y'know?
Throughout the series, I love the diversity and the way it's presented. There are characters with wheelchairs and crutches, characters of all different races and religions and genders and sexualities, characters with different body types and talents and interests. And it's all just there, not pushed in your face. This is just a part of the characters, not their entire character. Like Jaime's mom in book 1 - she's in a wheelchair, but Peppi is more interested in the fact that she's an artist; the wheelchair is just a side note, not all of who she is. I know the diversity is more than what you might encounter in the real world, a more idealized view, but the real world is certainly more diverse that what you'd see in a lot of titles, so it's very refreshing seeing it here.
You might have noticed that I used the word "sweet" a lot here. And that's for a reason. This might deal with heavier issues like bullies and cliques, but overall, the kids work things out, make positive steps forward. These are great "growing up" graphic novels. Definitely recommended for any fans of Raina Telgemeier, Shannon Hale's Best Friends series, or Click and its sequels.
Go Wiener Dogs!
Overall, this series is sweet and funny and a great look at middle school social life and growing up. Some laugh out loud moments, some moments to make your heart squeezy, overall just sweet and happy reads. Pretty much all are 5 stars reads (except for Diary, which wasn't a normal book, but an actual diary with supplemental short stories).
Awkward
Peppi is the new girl in town and finds her niche in the Art Club. Which has a serious rivalry with the Science Club across the hall. So, can she make friends with Jaime, a quiet kid from the Science Club, or are they too different? And will the rivalry destroy both clubs, or can them even come together? Deals with themes of friendships and cliques and being honest about making mistakes and apologizing.
Brave
Probably my favorite. Jenson is a side character in book 1, and here he gets his moment in the spotlight. This one is all about bullying and standing up for yourself. And not just brutal bullying, but name-calling, mean jokes, and more subtle, pervasive bullying. I love-love-loved it. He's so sweet and relatable and I'll admit, this one makes me choke up. No shame.
Crush
No, maybe this one's my favorite. Or maybe just my favorite character - I love Jorge. Such a sweet character, and totally confused by all this emotional nonsense. His facial expressions and cute little blushes are the best! Loved the themes of friendship and fighting/making up with friends, of bullying, of cliques and Mean Guys (no Mean Girls in this story, not even the Pep Squad girls!), and (of course) of first crushes.
Diary
Like I said above, a diary with short stories. Three stories about characters from the earlier books, with blank pages for journaling and sketching prompts, a blank calendar, etc. Only reason this one doesn't rate as highly is that I just wanted more. It's a great activity book, but when I love the stories so much, I just wanted more, y'know?
Throughout the series, I love the diversity and the way it's presented. There are characters with wheelchairs and crutches, characters of all different races and religions and genders and sexualities, characters with different body types and talents and interests. And it's all just there, not pushed in your face. This is just a part of the characters, not their entire character. Like Jaime's mom in book 1 - she's in a wheelchair, but Peppi is more interested in the fact that she's an artist; the wheelchair is just a side note, not all of who she is. I know the diversity is more than what you might encounter in the real world, a more idealized view, but the real world is certainly more diverse that what you'd see in a lot of titles, so it's very refreshing seeing it here.
You might have noticed that I used the word "sweet" a lot here. And that's for a reason. This might deal with heavier issues like bullies and cliques, but overall, the kids work things out, make positive steps forward. These are great "growing up" graphic novels. Definitely recommended for any fans of Raina Telgemeier, Shannon Hale's Best Friends series, or Click and its sequels.
Go Wiener Dogs!
November 7, 2019
I won this set through the goodreads giveaway. I loved reading this set of books. The first book in this series, Awkward, was a 2019 Connecticut Intermediate Nutmeg Award winner. I found that these books really captured the middle school scene. I enjoyed learning about the characters in each book and would love to learn about more of the characters' stories in future books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews