Twins Graphic Novel: Diverse Characters That Young Readers Will Appreciate!
Graphic novels showing diverse characters are on the rise. Read along as we share our thoughts on Twins, the iconic graphic novel from Varian Johnson and illustrated by Shannon Wright!
Publisher provided a ARC for review, however all thoughts and opinions our own. This post contains affiliate links. We earn a small commission for items purchased.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Coretta Scott King Honor author Varian Johnson teams up with rising cartoonist Shannon Wright for a delightful middle-grade graphic novel!
Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran — a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister!
Maureen and Francine are growing apart and there’s nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good?
My Review of the Graphic Novel Twins
Twins captures the inherent conflict between two sisters are they grow up and apart from each other. Sisters Maureen and Francine head into sixth grade, each with a different mission. Francine becomes Fran and looks to hang with a new group of friends while Maureen just wants things to stay the same. When Fran begins to expand her friendships, Maureen feels hurt that they are spending less time together. This conflict was realistic in that it’s usually around 6/7th grade when kids start to reach out to people outside of their core friend group.
Twins is a lovely collaboration between Shannon Wright and Varian Johnson that showcases two girls growing up in a supportive home. As a parent, raising two girls is a challenge but parenting twins? I can only imagine how tough that could be.
The parents in Twins are careful not to take sides and to give strong guidance when the girls’ drama becomes disruptive at home. They also encourage love and unity between the girls.
Most importantly, I smiled thinking of the Black children will reach for this book marveling that the characters look like themselves. When it comes to representation, Twins is critical because the graphic novel community doesn’t have a ton of books with Black and Brown characters, let alone middle school girls of color.
Maureen and Francine are very relatable to middle school kids who have siblings close in age. Their conversations and their hairstyles are realistic, I spotted braids, space buns, and ponytails!
As an Afro-Latina, I wish I had books like this growing up-books that have stories that don’t center around Black and Brown trauma. If you have a tween reader looking for an excellent graphic novel, have them read Twins.
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