So Embarrassing: Awkward Moments and How to Get Through Them

by Charise Mericle Harper

A graphic novel that makes embarrassment into something hilarious – and normal.
 
You’re not alone! No way are you the first kid who ever tripped and fell in public. Or spilled water on your pants so it looked like… you know! For those moments and more, here’s, the book that understands what you’re going through when you get caught farting in class.
 
Laugh-out-loud funny yet enormously compassionate, So Embarrassing is a comics-style compilation of stories about awkward and embarrassing situations for kids. Written and drawn by Charise Mericle Harper, the bestselling creator of the Just Grace series, So Embarrassing combines humor, science facts (what happens when we blush, for example), tips for quickly recovering from a cringe-worthy situation, and practical advice––like what to say to comfort a totally embarrassed friend.
 

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Comics

128 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2020

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the comic illustrations in the "Just Grace" series, then you will also appreciate this graphic novel by Charise Mericle Harper about embarrassment. There are some great tips inside for coping with those awkward moments -- even some great science info about topics like bad breath and stinky feet (farts, too). Some of the pages were hilarious, others a bit too busy. One of my favorite sections was the one with true embarrassing stories from adults. Great fun and helpful, too.

[aqilahreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

was so excited to see this on the shelves, but turns out that it was a bit hard to read (even though it was targeted to young readers) due to the context being put up quite messily. there is a lot of potential for this book, i just wished that it was much clearer and easier to read and follow through.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is a children's book but even I as an adult found some of it very relatable and it gave me a good giggle.
I had to zoom in quite far to read a lot of the text as it is comic book style and I'm not sure if it was because it was a pdf file but I struggled to read some of it which is why I have dropped my rating to a 3 star as if the book is printed as the file is it would be very hard to read.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book had potential but it didn't really meet my expectations. It was pretty good although the book was a bit blurry, making it difficult to read. Hopefully the formatting can be corrected before the book is published.

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley/publisher in exchange of an honest review!


So it’s been a while, but when I got this book in April… the quality just sucked. Really, it was blurry, the text was just barely there. I mailed NG and they said they would check it out. I haven’t heard back on my query from Netgalley but in July I decided to just redownload it and see if maybe the quality was better now. It was, at least at points, I still cannot read everything, but at least now I could finally read this book on how to get through awkward situations (which I at times seem to find myself). I am adding this part as it did impact my experience/feelings for the book. I just don’t think it is cool to upload a crappy quality book and then never let me know it is fixed (for most) when I ask NG about it. I am definitely not into the book as much as I was when I requested it in April.

This was quite an interesting read, about feelings, about awkward situations, and it is all done with big dash of humour. I definitely enjoyed reading it, though I also thought it was a bit chaotic. It seemed to jump around a bit and at times we got back to a topic when I thought it was already over.

I did like that everything was done comic style, and I liked reading the comics and all the awkwardness that happened there. I have definitely been on the end of both someone forgetting my name, I forgetting theirs, and oh yes, them mishearing my name. Oops! Also the food part, OMG, I have had friends with braces and how do you tell them subtly that they have something stuck? Also how do you get white bread stuck between your teeth? What kind of bread are these guys eating? Haha, I definitely had the I didn’t pee thing happen. Juice, or water, argh. At times I just draped my jacket over my waist and covered it that way. But the solutions presented in the comic are even more fun (though I wouldn’t recommend making your complete pants wet). And so there are many more situations which had me nodding along, laughing, giggling. I definitely loved how the book brought these situations, threw in humour, and then also presented us with some creative/interesting/maybe not always helpful though solutions.

But we also learn how your body works in these situations. Like blushing, or the flight/fight instinct. I definitely liked that those were added.

And there is plenty more embarrassing things and how to combat them, or at least see that it may not always be so bad as you think it is.

I really liked Gary, though I did feel sorry for the little guy. I also liked the fourth wall breaking, that had me laughing and is a big plus in my eyes.

I did like the art in this book. It was a fun kind of style and I think it fitted well with this book.

But yeah, some stuff was still unreadable, I would have liked to see it a bit more organised and less chaotic. I hope that for the finished product they will have at least fixed the blurry/unreadable text stuff.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book. It is styled in a comic book fashion. It touches on many different topics...farting, blushing, falling over, food stick in your teeth, wetting/spilling something on your pants, and other embarrassing moments.

The moments are embarrassing as readers can relate. I know that I have experienced many of the same moments found within the pages of this book. Each situation is presented with a "polite" way of reacting to the situation. While, the reactions to the situations are good; I did find some of them to be just plain silly. Like for example: Spilling something on your pants which looks like your wet them. The response was to add water to your pants. However, put the water on your pants in fun designs so it looks like it was on purpose. Examples: Make polka dots or zebra stripes but don't wet your pants all the way as it is uncomfortable to walk in wet pants.

Although, I did find myself laughing several times throughout this book. This book is definitely a coffee table book that is fun to flip through. A conversation starter.

[Mrs. Mazzola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous comic-style nonfiction explaining different embarrassing situations that kids might encounter in their daily lives. Overall, the print is small and hard to read and sometimes when it is meant to be funny, it falls a little flat. Not sure that this will appeal to my students.

[Cozy · Rating 3 out of 5]

*thank you Netgally and the author for the gifted copy, all thoughts are completely my own*

I thought (as an adult) most of this was pretty funny. It was difficult to read, I don't know if that's just because of the file or what.

The dog was great, very honest. Lol. Poor Gary... haha

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Non-Fiction
I received an electronic ARC from Workman Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Harper takes readers through a variety of embarrassing situations by having her characters experience them and talk about them together. Helpful hints and bad advice are ashred. Readers need to think for themselves and see what works for them. The main character and their dog introduce the topics and offer commentary throughout. A badge appears and passes out badges for making it through situations. Scientific information is slipped in so readers will understand what is happening in their bodies. It's only at the end that a hippo appears to share important information with characters and readers.
Interesting concept and middle grade readers will appreciate the humor and affirmation that situations like these happen to everyone. Transitions are a bit abrupt but the book works.

[Molly Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going by the Goodreads' star system to say "it was okay." I read this book as I am a children's librarian and I wanted to have some options for book recommendations on this topic
I was excited by the idea of this book. A book about awkward moments and how to get through them is very helpful for more easily embarrassed children. AND it was a comic. How fun!

But the book itself is less than ideal. I wasn't a fan of the page layouts. The artwork was cute enough, but it was cluttered on some pages and I just felt like it translated to being more boring than I would have liked.

The book focuses a lot on potential awkward moments, but it isn't until the end that we get more hands on ways to get through the moments. Some of the best parts of the book, in my opinion, were when the book would have more hands on ways to get through certain common awkward situations (such as saying "do I have anything stuck in MY teeth?" when trying to tell another that there is something stuck in their teeth). Also liked the bit about "just because something is awkward doesn't mean something is wrong." That's a good lesson for everyone to have!

It may help some kids, but I wish there was a little more to this book.

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

I'm not sure what the point of this book was--from the title, I expected a series of tips on how to handle difficult and embarrassing situations, and maybe some science and statistics showing how we all get embarrassed. Some of that was there, but the majority of the book just seemed to be a collection of comics showing kids being embarrassed? It sort of shows that certain experiences are more common than we might think, but there is really no explanation of what to do about it until the last few pages (and even that is short). A few too many attempts at "relatable" jokes fall flat. I've enjoyed other self-help or informative graphic novels for kids (like Rachel Brian's Consent for Kids and The Worry Less Book), but this doesn't live up to those titles.

[Lyn Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short nonfiction book in a graphic novel format aimed at readers ages 8-12. G wanted all the parents to read it so that we would have instructions on how not to be embarrassing. We each explained that parents can’t help but embarrass their kids, and we would not embarrass them on purpose. The point of the book is not preventing embarrassments, but coping when they happen. It’s a fine book for the age group and a quick read. I would have liked footnotes or a bibliography or some other form of references for the facts, not because they are implausible, but because readers at this age are constantly confronted with misinformation and they need hints for verifying what is reliable. Other than that, I can imagine the book being helpful, and I laughed out loud at some points.

[sinag · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 stars!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book has a good title and premise, but a disappointing execution. It is full of awkward moments, but nothing of the "how to get through them" parts, or at least nothing actually useful or at least funny. It just didn't meet my expectation. I also wished the texts in the speech bubbles are larger for ease in reading. The colors in this book are very vibrant and most of the time, also hurt my eyes. There's just a lot of minus points throughout my reading experience of this book.

[christinemm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am happily surprised to find nonfiction information and advice for preteens and teens presented in comic/illustrated format only. This book has no paragraphs of black text on white paper. This is not only funny, it’s educational and engaging. This is perfect for my 6th grader reluctant readers who love anything in graphic format. I was going to add it to my classroom library but may use some of this in my lessons. There is not a lot of advice on coping but my interpretation is the more kids realize kids are all worried about these things and learn to laugh about them they will naturally be less anxious if and when these situations arise.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In colorful graphic-style artwork this book portrays some of the big, and small, embarrassing moments teenagers face growing up. It has amusing true story and factual sidebars along with practical and funny advice for teens to deal with these experiences. Many readers will be able to relate to these real-life situations, and realize they are not alone. An entertaining way of learning to navigate those awkward life moments.

[Aud · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's good at what it does. I actually get more embarrassed for other people (like, if I'm watching TV or movies or in books and things) than I generally do in real life. I don't really experience a lot of embarrassing situations in real life, maybe? But I could see this appealing to socially-0ver-conscious kid or someone with anxiety.

[Karen Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Close to a 4*

This book is hilarious and very readable. Ultimately, it's helpful. it shares ideas of how to handle embarrassing things, as well as the importance of putting them into perspective.

Maybe the most important take-away for kids would be to realize that everyone has embarrassing moments, even though in the moment it might seem like you're the only one.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun way to learn how to deal with your embarrassment. Humor and facts mixed to make the bare bones come to life.

[Jodena Pysher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was a fun, quick read!! It will definitely help munchkins realize and understand how anything and everything can happen..... but always come out on top and shake it off!!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for kids who may be experiencing and questioning embarassment.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think this topic would appeal to all ages. Funny, helpful, and informative. I agree with other reviewers that some images are a little blurry and larger comics would be preferred.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hysterically funny and also offers lots of helpful wisdom. A totally excellent read for kids & adults alike!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious!

If you want to find a way to laugh about those unavoidable embarrassing moments and look at great illustrations while doing it, then this is the book you've been looking for.

[Laurel Purdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! True! Helpful! And endearingly illustrated!