Truly Tyler

Emmie & Friends #5

by Terri Libenson

A story about being your truest self--and trusting your truest friends--from bestselling author Terri Libenson. Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale.

Cliques. Crushes. Comics. Middle school.

Ever since Tyler started getting into art and hanging out with Emmie, his friends and teammates have been giving him a hard time. He wonders why can't he nerd out on drawing and play ball?

Emmie is psyched that she gets to work on a comics project with her crush, Tyler. But she gets the feeling that his friends don't think she's cool enough. Maybe it's time for a total reinvention. . . .

Don't miss the rest of the Emmie & Friends series: Invisible Emmie, Positively Izzy, Just Jaime, Becoming Brianna, and You-Niquely You: An Emmie & Friends Interactive Journal!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Comics, Friendship, Childrens

380 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2021

About the author

Terri Libenson (pronounced LEE-ben-son) is a New York Times bestselling children’s book author and award-winning cartoonist of the syndicated daily comic strip, The Pajama Diaries, which ran from 2006-2020. She was also an award-winning humorous card writer for American Greetings.

Terri graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BFA in illustration and a minor in art history. Her daily syndicated comic strip, The Pajama Diaries, launched with King Features in 2006 and ran in hundreds of newspapers internationally until its retirement in January, 2020. Pajama Diaries has been nominated four times for the Reuben Award for “Best Newspaper Comic Strip” by the National Cartoonists Society and won in 2016. You can read the Pajama Diaries archives daily on ComicsKingdom.com.

Terri has three Pajama Diaries book collections: Deja To-Do, Having It All–And No Time To Do It, and Bat-Zilla. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the middle grade series, Emmie & Friends (Balzer + Bray).

Born and raised in Kingston, PA, Terri lives with her husband and two daughters in Cleveland, OH.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emmie is back in this book where she teams up with Tyler to write a comic book for an art contest. As with the other books in this series, the format varies. Tyler's chapters are Libenson's signature style with lots of white space and smaller graphics. Then Emmie's chapters are in full page graphic style. Also included is a book within the book as we get to see the panels that Tyler and Emmie draw for the contest entry. Middle school drama abounds with friendship, art, and basketball in the panels. Different family makeups are also clearly portrayed. There is a broader representation of race and sex in this new installment that I'm sure readers will be happy to see. Looking forward to the next book. Will it be Sarah's turn?

Thank you to Balzer + Bray and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

[Diana Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, middle school. Very relatable graphic novel from two points of view- a 7th grade boy and 7th grade girl. Brought back memories from those confusing, tumultuous, difficult years!

[Amber Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terri Libenson is a favorite in our household and Truly Tyler brought some definite excitement. Tyler and Emmie decide to work on a project together but they get a lot of flack from Tyler's friend group about it, or so they think, Tyler has to decide what is really important to him and how to handle friends and parents who think differently. Great flow, great story, sure to be a follow up hit!

[Carrot · Rating 4 out of 5]

After thought:
This book is such a guilty pleasure but I can’t deny it - I’m in love with this series!!

Review:
I'm coming back from a month later. I really questioned my decision to buy the rest of the series at first, but I did it. And I don't regret it. It was super fun to read although it's probably the ultimate guilty-pleasure book series ever. Each book seemingly had their own personality, was so relatable, and I loved getting to know and spend time with each of the characters :)

[Clover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite book of the series!!!!!!!

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been taking kids to library and kept seeing all these graphic novel books that were super popular and I figured - hey, why not. It’s a quick, easy read and I can look through the titles while kids are getting their books! So glad I started - Honestly, what a great message for kids! Supportive, understanding of middle school drama and feelings … great story line! Would absolutely recommend to middle school kids - both boys & girls.

[BeachReader09 · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️❤️❤️

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sometimes I look around the cafeteria at lunch and wonder why everything is set up the way it is.”
- first line

That first line refers to the way the “jocks sit near the front,” “science kids sit in the back,” etc. In other words, Tyler is wondering why everything is so divided. He wants to be friends with kids outside of his “basketball/sports” group, but it isn’t easy. Tyler is great at basketball, but he also likes art, a lot. This seems to be an impossible combination. Tyler enjoys working with Emmie on their comic book project and he has fun hanging out with her. But when his friends start complaining that he is missing too much practice and making fun of him spending so much time with Emmie, Tyler doesn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, Emmie is dealing with her own issues. Sara is even less cool than Emmie and their friendship seems to be getting in the way of Emmie’s relationship (or the possibility of one anyway) with Tyler.
Ah, middle school. I am so glad that is behind me (and behind my kids). It’s a rough couple of years for everyone. This book series does a fantastic job of showing what middle school feels like for the kids going through it. I highly recommend the entire series to students in grades 3 and up, though by 5th, it will probably resonate even more with readers.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sooo good!!! I loved it and it was very interesting!!!❤️ I love the author Terri Libenson!!!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5, but Libenson really nails the middle school experience.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good

[Iulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

For school and I normally wouldn’t add this type of book on here but I’m honestly desperate to fulfil my goal for this year

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love these books; I can’t wait for many more!

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun and powerful story about being who you are and being friends with people, no matter what others think.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is part of the Emmie and Friends series. It was as fun to read as the others in the series and I enjoyed seeing all the characters again. This book is Tyler's story, but it was told from the perspectives of both Tyler and Emmie.

Tyler is on the basketball team, which is very important to him. He also has recently gotten into art, which is also really important to him. When his art teacher assigns and big project - to create and design your own comic book - he teams up with Emmie to write and illustrate the book together.

Emmie is beside herself when Tyler agrees to work with her on the comic book. She has had a crush on Tyler for a while, but never thought he would notice her. The more they work together, the better friends they become.

Tyler's friends don't understand why he would miss practice for art. When Tyler's friends start hassling him for spending so much time with Emmie, he is upset. He really loves art and enjoys hanging out with Emmie, but his friends won't let up. When a mean meme with him and Emmie starts circulating Tyler pulls back, inadvertently hurting Emmie. Now he must find a way to figure out what makes him happy and make it up to Emmie, who he has hurt.

This is a classic middle school plot, but well executed. I loved the graphic format. The pictures really helped tell the story. I loved how the graphic novel that they were writing was included between Tyler and Emmie's chapters. I enjoyed this book and I think fans of the series will love it. It is a good read, even if you have not read the others in the series.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book so much more than I thought I would! Tyler is a jock and he's Emmie's crush. He loves basketball, but in this book he also discovers his love for art. He and Emmie become friends and start working on a comic together for art class. He gets teased by his friends for hanging out with her because she's not "cool" and because his friends are resentful that she's taking his time. I loved seeing his character growth as he learned to stand up for himself and his friendships. Honestly, there is a lot of good character growth in this book for him, Emmie and his friends. I loved the relationship dynamics between Tyler and his brother, his dad, and his friends. He learns that he can love basketball AND art AND other things. He doesnt have to stay in the box that his family/friends have put him in and he doesn't have to be categorized in the way that middle school tries to force. I loved seeing some of Emmie's perspective and the story in the story didn't bother me. Overall, this was a really good addition to the series and I think I'm back to loving it!

[Brandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful graphic novel! Might be helpful to read Invisible Emmie before this one but you can still enjoy this one on its own. This story is also from a middle school boy's point of view which is so different than most graphic novels for this age group. The book documents Tyler's troubles and questions through middle school and we see that what he worries about or struggles with is not all that different from someone like Emmie. Great themes in this book like friendship, teamwork, and overall respect for one another. This book also includes another comic within as Tyler and Emmie work on a project together for their art class - love the book within a book feature. Highly recommend along with Libenson's other graphic novels about these various characters!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I had read all of the earlier books in this series. Goodreads says no, so now I need to order all 4 to see what I've read and what I haven't. Cute, good for middle grades, good for any reader, but especially those who like friendship stories.

[Rosemary M · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good. I liked the change in perspective it added more drama to the story which made it way more captivating.

[Ezra]

ok

[Jill F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one. Great message.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really good and didn't feel like I was missing the context by not reading books 2-4. Still, the offensive anti-pc bit from book 1 was back, and Terri Libenson still put it in. It also felt like it was stereotyping boys into 4 categories. So... 3 stars.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, nice message!

[Catherinealice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my fave of the middle grade graphic novels. Some kids like the first crush and will I ever fit it. New Kid has more complexity and was more fun.

[Audge Podge 🦄 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! 😍 Especially all the drama!

[Rachel Holtzclaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this middle grade graphic novel series i really do

[Peoria Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katy rated it 4 stars

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was a good addition to the series, giving me an inside look at a huge part of the earlier books. The story was interesting and engaging.

[Jd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading books for school year. I think students would like this one.

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was very interesting, in a good way. I didn’t like how they had so much drama in there life, but I guess that’s what middle schools about.