Cub

A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2020
A Mighty Girl 2020 Book of the Year
One of Book Riot's “10 Middle Grade Graphic Novels to Gift This Year”  

“In both its story and its buoyant artwork—the groovy coloring was done by Ronda Pattinson—Copeland gets so many things right. She gets the nuances of hippie-chic ‘70s teenage fashion. She gets the daffy chatter of cousins after Thanksgiving dinner has been eaten. ('Eat it! Eat the weird pie!') She gets the ordinary heartbreak when, again and again, Cindy’s father reflexively nourishes the ambitions of her brothers, looking past her as if she is invisible. ('You know, John, I think you’d be an excellent politician!' ) And she gets the way that Cindy’s immediate problems, like a friend scorning her in the hall, can feel as vivid and epoch-defining as Watergate or the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment . . . Cub offers a road map for the . . . Cindys of today, proposing to the awkward and the ambitious that they are not, in fact, hostage to the merciless social sorting that can happen within the confines of middle school . . . Look outward, this delightful book advises. A great big world is waiting.”
I>The New York Times Book Review

“This charming, intelligent, funny book is a sharp look into the middle school ecosystem, its shifting allegiances, its hormonally charged confusions. It follows seventh-grader Cindy as she navigates cliques and crushes and takes on a role as a cub reporter under the wing of an ambitious young woman journalist. Copeland nails the cringy pre-teen humiliations, and the book also serves as a primer on lede-writing and journalistic ethics, as well as showing a person coming into her own and learning how to be the author of her own story.”
I>Boston Globe

“Copeland's first graphic novel for kids successfully integrates the right balance of coming-of-age issues into those arising from her early-'70s setting; many of the latter are eerily similar to those that the country is still experiencing. This tale of middle-grade angst and self-consciousness is laced with humor and nostalgia.”
I>Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
“Deftly juggling Cindy’s school days, internship, and home life, Copeland crafts a multilayered, year-in-the-life story within a complex historical context.”
I>Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“Raina Telgemeier fans will lap this up, particularly those who need a shot of courage or reassurance heading into the maelstrom of middle school.”
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
 
“Engaging and interesting . . . this [book] made me ridiculously happy.”