Felicity’s sure she’s going to do something big. Exactly what is still a mystery, but she’ll figure it out. Her sister, Letty, teases Felicity that she never finishes stuff, but that’s just because Letty is so perfect. Still, life is good with plenty of friends—drawing with the art club and playing games with her buddies keep her busy. But when she decides to join a contest to show Letty that she CAN get things done, Felicity begins to wonder if friends becoming enemies is easier than she thought. Are they really enemies, though…? What does it even mean to be enemies? And…who is it that she needs the most on her side…?
Svetlana 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.
Not my favorite in the series but still really good. I appreciated the message of the importance of communication with friends. Also, I liked the discussion that it's normal to expect some failure in life and that no one is perfect.
This episode in Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle School series is as wonderful as the others. I loved the characters, particularly the main character Felicity, who is an artist and a gamer with big dreams--except she has trouble finishing projects. She's also in the shadow of her little sister Letty, who is the one who wins all the prizes and competitions and appears to be the golden child. I think I loved the story even more because when I was their age, I was the golden child, and it was a bittersweet experience to see how Felicity felt about it.
Chmakova really gets what it's like to be this age, emerging into young adulthood and facing all sorts of educational and social challenges. Here, Felicity used to be friends with Joseph and doesn't understand why their friendship ended; Joseph broke it off by simply not talking to her anymore. But it isn't until they both compete for the same prize--an entrepreneurial contest for pitching a business idea--that she has to wonder if it's more than that. Are they enemies? And does she want to change that?
The title says it, but there are a lot of relationships here that are adversarial: Letty, Joseph, the kid in Felicity's Spanish class who refuses to do any work in their group project. And what I love about this story is that not all these relationships end up positive.
This wasn't as emotionally moving as some of the others, but I'm not sure that's a flaw, because the characterization is so good it moved me in a different way. Not everything in the plot is resolved perfectly, thank heaven, and the solution to Felicity and Tessa's business idea is better for it. (It's a clever idea, too.)
I continue to have the feeling that Chmakova has created a middle school that is far more integrated culturally than exists in very many places, but I think that's a strength of the series. Chmakova hasn't tried to represent a real middle school, she's invented a place where emotional and social challenges of all sorts can play out. It's occasionally jarring to me when I consider my own middle school experience, which was awful as well as being a long enough time ago that some of the details of Berrybrook are alien to me. (For example, I don't live anywhere that anyone would go by "Mx.") But it all works.
Now I have to hand the book over to my daughter, for whom I bought it. She will love it even more than I did.
The nostalgia 😭 I have been waiting for another Svetlana Chmakova book (from this series) for SO LONG!!! It had basic plot and lessons but thats what I love about it. It takes me back to the basics without all the craziness of 17-year-old life!! This series will ALWAYS be my favourite!!!
حبيتها جدا ❤️ بذكاء شديد، رسمت كاتبة تلك القصة شخصية "فيليستي" ذات ال ١٣ عام. شخصية ليس من السهل التعاطي معها، فهي تتصرف على سجيتها، تقول ما تشعر به دون أن تعطي لنفسها أي فرصة في التفكير في الأثر السئ الذي قد تتركه كلماتها في نفس من يسمعها. دبش يعني 😁
علاقتها بأختها ليست في أفضل حال، فتفوق ونبوغ أختها الدراسي يُشعرها دائما بالنقص، وبالتالي يطغى شعور الغيرة الذي يشعله "غيظ" أختها الدائم لها على تلك العلاقة. شغل عيال بقى وكده
تفقد أعز صديق لها بسبب تسرعها واندفاعها في الكلام دون حساب، تنفر منها زميلتها في مشروع مدرسي مشترك بسبب حدة انتقادها الدائم لأي فكرة تعلن عنها. تعوقها مشكلتها مع الوقت عن الإلتزام بإنهاء أي عمل تبدأ به.
فكيف نقدم شخصية بها كل تلك "السمات" دون أن ننفر منها؟
على الرغم من كل عيوب "فليسيتي" الشخصية، إلا أن الكاتبة خلقت بها ذكاء وضمير يقظ يجعلها في حالة "تعلم" من كل خطأ ترتكبه. بالطبع تستغرق "فيليستي" وقتاً طويلاً حتى تدرك حاجتها لتغيير نمط وأسلوب تعاملها مع من حولها، وذلك ما أحببته أيضا في تلك العمل، وهو واقعيته الشديدة في التعامل مع كيفية التغيير الذي يطرأ على الشخصية في سياق زمني وحدثي منطقي ومعقول.
كان إيقاع أخر قصة صدرت من تلك السلسلة "مدرسة بيري بروك الإعدادية" إيقاعا سريعا ينتقل ببراعة ورشاقة بين شخصيات القصة مانحاً لكل منهم المساحة الصحيحة الكافية لتفاعلهم ببعضهم البعض.
قرأت العديد والعديد من سلاسل القصص المصورة للناشئين، إلا أن لتلك السلسلة مذاق مميز يجعلها تقف بتفرد عن باقي الإنتاج الموجود في هذا السوق. ربما لإسلوب الرسم الذي يميل بشدة للمانجا اليابانية. ربما كان هذا لإختلاف الخلفية الثقافية للمؤلفة ذات الأصول الروسية، والتي أعطت مجالا حقيقا أصيلا لوجود الاختلاف والتنوع الثقافي والشكلي من خلال شخصيات قصصها. تلك التنوع الذي أراه سائدا الأن، ولكني كنت أشعر به دخيلا أو مفروضا في معظم القصص والأعمال الأخرى.
Every time I start reading a new Berrybrook Middle School book, I always feel like I would rather read about the characters I already know rather than new characters, but Chmakova is so good at writing characters that I really get into the new ones. This story is no different.
The story focuses on the rivalries and enemy relationships that crop up in middle school. A wide variety of enemy relationships are featured: those that we imagine are enemies but who really aren't; those who are enemies because of a lack of communication; those who are enemies because of a misunderstanding; and those who are enemies just because they have character flaws that clash with our own characteristics. Some relationships are repaired and others aren't, so there is a sense of realism in that. The thing that I like best about this is that it promotes communication as a way of overcoming difficulties in relationships.
If you have enjoyed the other books in this series, you'll enjoy this one as well.
This fourth installment in the Berrybrook series is just as charming and warmhearted as the previous volumes. This one focuses on Felicity, an artist who struggles with time management and deadlines, and with comparisons to her hyper-organized, science-fair winning younger sister. Wanting to prove herself, Felicity joins a competition for kid entrepreneurs. But coming up with a winning idea proves more difficult than she expected, especially when her partner keeps suggesting completely impossible ideas. Also, one of her best friends from elementary school stopped talking to her and now glares daggers at Felicity and she has no idea why. It's hard to keep your head up in middle school with all of the swirling emotions, homework, personal projects, and still maintain high scores in the most popular new online multi-player combat game. But Felicity has the love and support of her family- all she has to do is be willing to ask for help.
There is one page in Enemies that really hit home. I think most authors and creators can relate. It's a very spoilery moment, so I won't go into detail, but when the word balloons said *IN-DEPTH WORLD LORE KNOWLEDGE* and *NUANCED STORY COMPREHENSION* I just started laughing out loud with glee. The look on Felicity's face was priceless and completely relatable. I don't want to spoil what was happening in those panels but it was so perfect. And it was a wonderful thing to happen at that point in the story.
The Berrybrook Middle School books are great. My son and I both enjoy reading them. I hope there will be more!
This wasn’t my favorite in the series, but as always, the author perfectly captures the emotions of being an adolescent. The main themes in this one were probably resilience and self-esteem, but I really liked the parts about collaboration and how hard it can be to work in groups. I think my students will enjoy it like the others. I’ll be lucky to even get it in the shelf!
I love this middle school graphic novel series, so I had to read the latest one. It’s so diverse, and always has some social-emotional element. Plus her comic art is fantastic. This latest one features Black and Asian characters and their families, people with physical disabilities and non-binary characters.
I picked this up for myself but my daughter saw it and we decided to read it together. We both fully enjoyed it. Now I’m going to go back and reread the series with my daughter :). Illustrations were great and dialog between the characters had my daughter laughing. It also led to discussions about situations with friends she could have at school in the future. A great read, I highly recommend.
oh my gosh I literally love this!!!!! not the best in the series but it had my giggling and kicking my feet so hard eeeeee
since all my reviews are basically rants, it’s no surprise this one is too lol 😅 for this one I will be doing more of an analysis, since I really liked the themes in this book
may have minor spoilers ‼️
I think out of all the books in the series, this one portrays teen life/problems most accurately for example, the way felicity is a procrastinator is actually so so relatable lmao!! joseph’s problems are quite realistic too, since I think at this age, friendships def tend to be more prone to miscommunication (speaking of joseph, I think their friendship could’ve been explored a liiiitle bit more 🤭 maybe some flashbacks? how did they become friends in the first place??)
the theme of failure and perfection was done very well, I love how it also touches on the living up to high expectations/trying to impress your family problem! felicity is so relatable, def sucks when your younger sib does better at certain things than you 🥲 felicity and letty’s dynamic is very interesting, though I wish the book touched more on letty’s feelings (doesn’t she feel pressured? does she have any other hobbies?? how does she maintain such good time management?????? oh the questions)
a pretty small detail, but I actually love how felicity called out the art theft!!!! it’s kinda sad that society has somewhat normalized not crediting artists, happens more often than you think 😭😭
something else I realized while reading: these kids. are in middle school. which means. they are. ten. to thirteen years old. (literally stated in the book!)
to give context to anyone who hasn’t read yet, our awesome boss lady main character felicity and her awesome boss lady friend tessa, are entering this business entrepreneurship idea pitch contest thingy! (also known as shark tank/dragon’s den, or in this book, piranha pit 😊 but for middle schoolers ofc)
while researching, felicity stated that previous year’s winners included ideas like POVERTY. HUNGER. BULLYING. A WHOLE FREAKING SOLAR PANEL PROTOTYPE.
THAT BEING SAID, I’m PRETTY SURE, that when I WAS ELEVEN, I wasn’t making projects based on giant world wide issues and inventing new models of science technology!!!!! rah!!!!!!!!!!
their exact age probably doesn’t even matter as the important part is to know that they’re young teens, but the idea of a world dominating 10 year old is terrifying. just saying.
anyway, anyone who hasn’t read this series is literally missing out on life and should totally read it asap!!!!! like, felicity is so girlboss and so are you actually, but only if you have read this series 👹👹
I think it's been too long since reading Crush , because I don't remember any of these characters.
The art is very enjoyable, with pleasant coloring and wonderful details.
I don't feel like anyone but Felicity, and maaaaaybe Tess, experienced any character growth, though. Letty was a very flat side character, in my opinion. I don't like being able to describe someone that important to a protagonist in a single sentence. The lack of depth to other people is what dropped my rating.
Still, it's a good series and I hope F doesn't take as long.
ok so realistically what this did is make me realize i actually can read books throughout the school day and be totally fine bc i finished this book in less than 12 hours between classes. i think the main reason it only got three stars is bc compared to the other ones i didn’t like it as much? like it was still really good and i loved it but idk it didn’t hit as hard ig. anyways kate if you’re reading this i will have this book back to you asap
Thank you Netgalley for the free book. All around I enjoyed this book however I wish that Felicity and Letty had sat down and talked about their problems. When it comes to her sister Felicity has an inferiority complex and her sister doesn't make it any better by being super snarky about everything. If they don't sit down and talk about the problem they're just putting it off, letting it grow until it becomes a bigger problem. I liked Felicity's willingness to talk and communicate. When her friend stopped talking to her she was confused and wanted to know what the problem was. She was willing to grow and I admire that in her. Just like in the other books I like seeing the other characters from previous books. The different relationships we get to see from previous books just made me super happy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
*An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving said copy in no way influenced my review of this title*
Chmakova does it again with her middle school series, Berrybrook Middle School. As always it's great seeing familiar characters from past stories, it helps connect the books while also allowing them to function as standalones. Chmakova has a wonderful way of throwing a lot of common middle school issues into her books and addressing them in depth, in a way that fully fleshes out the issue and solution as well. In this story we saw 'City' struggle with relationships with past friends, her sister, and current friends. On top of that we also saw her struggle with sharing too much of information that was not hers to share, and also not being a great friend herself by being too controlling of situations. Chmakova's characters a bar above the rest, as our main characters are never golden children that can do no wrong. They are flawed and have learning to do- it makes this middle school story feel very honest and reminiscent to my own middle school days. I think it was hard calling these characters enemies, but that is from my standpoint as an adult, I wouldn't call a colleague that I don't get along with an enemy. But thinking back to my middle school days, I absolutely would've been in the same boat as 'City' and called these kids my enemy. It's all about perspective. And I'm glad too she had positive adult roll models in her life to help make her aware of these thoughts and how to navigate them. These books are always high on my recommend list for all kids who are of this age and going through it.
Felicity has several friend groups, she loves art and gaming, but struggles to finish things - as her younger sister Letty continues to remind her. When she learns that the entrepreneur club is involved in a project where the prize is $1000, Felicity joins - sure she can come up with a business idea that will win her the money. She needs a partner, so convinces her friend Tess to join as well - they made a great team selling Girl Scout cookies once. Joseph is also in the club - Felicity used to be friends with Joseph, but now things are awkward between them, and Felicity doesn't know why.
Oh, the kids love this series so much. Chmakova writes for this age so well, that the kids at my school read and re-read them. So much drama, friendships on the brink, troubles with a sibling, and who likes who, I especially loved how she and her partner "got back" at the kid in their Spanish class who wouldn't help with the group project. So happy to add Enemies to the collection.
This is the third graphic novel I read tonight by this author, I have no regrets. This is one of her newer books, and there is very subtle changes that I reaaaallly like. Also some of the drawings of food in this book made me hungry. I LOVE THIS AUTHOR PLEASE MAKE MORE GRAPHIC NOVELS.
Alright, so like, this was super lovely 🥹. I thought at first that it would be this fun silly story that people read to pass time. Yet, it turned out to have more depth than I could have guessed. The first thing I'd note is that through the cover art, book title and description, I had understood that we'd be seeing how a peer relationship develops with the ups and downs that comes with it. That and that only. But truly it was that and more. I got to witness many versions of relationships ranging from familial to friendships. At the story's core is a sweet message. It's learning to navigate life with all it's hardships through valuing yourself and each effort you make. That the true greatest enemy isn't in another, but rather yourself. In the ways that uou treat yourself. I think the reason this Graphic Novel stood out to me most is that even at the age of 20 I see myself reflected in the main character. Her feelings towards everything she went through were so vivid and they were similar to my own. She was real in all the ways that mattered. The reason I gave it a 4 star instead of a 5 is because the story contained an element I have reserves against. Other than that it was a very nice story, able to combine between enjoyment and deepness.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for a review.
The Berrybrook series is still the best middle grade graphic novel offering out there in my opinion. Chmakova always delivers the great pencils, the thoughtful and detailed plots, the relatable characters, gentle lessons, and a lot of heart. Felicity struggles with feeling overshadowed by her sister’s stellar academic achievements. But, she enters herself into a “change maker/young entrepreneur” competition to prove that she too, is more than capable of success. In the Berrybrook fashion, tension and drama find their way to our lead character and she has to navigate the various “enemies” that crop up along the way. But, perhaps those she thinks are enemies are not and she discovers that sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. A lot of great lessons to be learned in this installment including communication, letting go of the need for perfection, accepting failures as part of a process, working together and finding middle ground with others. And Chmakova even finds room for a little hint at potential romance. Enemies is another win for this series. 😊
Felicity, this novel's protagonist, might be the series's most relatable main character. Although not a fan of drama, she gets caught up in some fresh tension and awkwardness; the kind we all find in our middle school years.
Chmakova's characters are always so well developed, and she's not afraid of letting them have their flaws, of letting them mess up, and then letting them grow from it. It's what makes this series so spectacular! That, coupled with the relatable conflicts and fantastic art.
5/5 stars; I'll be buying this set for myself to re-read when I need some comfort.
Overall it was a good book. I enjoyed it. There is a girl named Felicity and a boy named Joseph. They are the enemies of the title. It was about a competition for ten thousand dollars. Felicity wants to win so she can show her perfect sister Letty. But Joseph is her obstacle. They actually end up becoming friends. The idea was good but there was a random love part. And the book ends with a weird cliffhanger and I can’t find the next part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The messages of friendship, teamwork, ethical use of materials not your own, loving yourself, and failure being a part of life are nicely woven into the story without being preachy. These are messages kids need to hear from many sources all day long! Admittedly it took me awhile to get into it because I wasn’t in the mood for middle school drama. However, I kept reading and really enjoyed it. The kids will too!
Enemies is not my favourite story in The Berrybrook collection I did not warm to Felicity or her annoying sister Letty as much as I would have liked but I am glad Svetlana Chmakova is back creating new stories to be told. I have been on the look out for a new chapter in The Berrybrook collection can't wait for more to come.
I really like this series. In this one we see two girls trying to come up with a viable business plan in order to win a contest. As with the other books, the characters have much to learn about themselves and others. In the end, the winning or losing is secondary.