Join us in April as we read middle grade graphic novel Just Roll With It together as a community.

Engaged PTO parents throughout Upper Arlington Schools are collaborating on a new district-wide Belonging Family Book Read to build community through shared experiences.

Our inaugural read will be middle grade graphic novel Just Roll With It, a coming-of-age story that focuses on themes of mental wellness and belonging.

All are welcome to read the book at home together, and then we’ll gather in person Saturday, May 11 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm at the Thompson Park North Shelter House. We’ll discuss the book with Just Roll With It‘s illustrator Veronica Agarwal and author Lee Durfey-Lavoie, work together on a Seeds of Caring service project, talk about ways to support mental wellness and more.

Please check back as we’ll be adding more information as plans are finalized. Thank you for joining us for this community book read!

The You Belong UA Family Book Read is a collaborative project supported by The Barrington PTO, The Hastings PTO, The Upper Arlington High School PTO, The Jones PTO, The Wickliffe PTO, The Windermere PTO and in partnership with Upper Arlington City Schools. The You Belong UA Family Book Read began as an idea within the Barrington PTO and then grew to include other PTOs in an effort to connect community members throughout Upper Arlington. 

An accessible, compassionate story of growth and learning

Maggie enters middle school and soon realizes that the 20-sided die she rolls to make decisions doesn’t always work.

Maggie Sankhar is both excited and nervous to be starting sixth grade. On the one hand, she quickly makes a new friend, Clara, who encourages her to join the RPG club—but on the other hand, she encounters bullies, and mastering all the new routines can feel intimidating. Most of all, Maggie often holds herself back because she fears things will go awry if the number on the die isn’t favorable. She also internalizes pressure to live up to her older sisters’ seemingly unattainable achievements, even as her caring family recognizes that her struggles go beyond the ordinary and that she may benefit from therapy. Maggie is reluctant, but her therapist is reassuring and supportive. Maggie’s character is well developed, and her arc shows what living with mental illness can look like day to day. The depiction of OCD is thoughtful, and the lively, expressive illustrations show Maggie’s stress and worry—as well as many moments of fun with her new friends. This is a thoughtful and engaging account of a preteen navigating mental illness in a world that leaves her constantly doubting herself. Maggie and her family read as South Asian; brown-skinned Clara has two moms, one of Maggie’s older sisters has a girlfriend, and the girls’ school is multiethnic.

An accessible, compassionate story of growth and learning. (design process, author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews

As she starts sixth grade, Maggie uses little rituals to get through the day, such as greeting the house when she gets home from school and rolling a 20-sided die whenever she has to make a decision. Sometimes that gets in her way, but she fears that if she doesn’t obey the die, something terrible will happen to her family or friends. Her fears take concrete form when kids at school start talking about some sort of monster lurking outdoors. Maggie visualizes both the monster outside and her own self-doubt as dragons, with the inner dragon always ready to strike at her self-esteem whenever anything goes wrong. Maggie’s family is loving and accepting, but her worried parents want her to see a therapist, something she regards as a threat. Agarwal uses dark cross-hatching to indicate Maggie’s anxiety, sometimes putting a few wisps around the edges of the panel and other times covering her with darkness. The adults in the story deliver a few textbookish lectures about OCD, which is useful and necessary. But Maggie’s family and her best friend, Claire, also offer her some concrete strategies to help when she is overwhelmed by anxiety.

School Library Journal

Thank you for supporting a new idea to help foster empathy and community in Upper Arlington

Just Roll With It is an approximately 2 hour read.

Physical copies

Ebooks

Audiobooks

We’ll be gathering at the Thompson Park North Shelter House from 12:00pm – 2:00pm for a community conversation with illustrator Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie. 

Join us for a presentation and conversation with Just Roll With It’s illustrator Veronica Agarwal and author Lee Durfey-Lavoie. They’ll be offering a behind-the-scenes look at creating graphic novels as well as showing us how to create our own little zines.

We’ll also be collecting gently used youth to adult books with Seeds of Caring and decorating bookmarks to include with our donations to 2nd & 7 and The Open Shelter. Learn more about our project with Seeds of Caring here.

Giant thanks to luxe + lemons who will be providing us with tasty snacks for our gathering.

More information coming soon!

Please fill out the form if you would like interpretation services.
If you’d like to anonymously request a copy of the book, please email wellbeing@uaschools.org.