Middle schooler Tara has one year left before high school. At least that was the plan, until her principal called her and two other students to her office. As high achievers they are going to skip a year and jump straight to ninth grade. (Year 9 in NZ).

At first it doesn’t faze her. School is school, right? But her best friend and older sister Isla soon pops that blasé bubble.

“High School is NOT just school. Elementary and middle school are like getting babysat.”

Tara’s mind begins to spin. She loves playing imaginative games both alone and with their baby brother Pete, so her imagination is ready to send her into a tailspin about attending high school. Is it going to be like the movies with bullies scoping out, “fresh meat?”

Is she going to get lost, never to be seen again in endless hallways?

With one last encouraging but confusing sentence from Isla, Tara is suddenly on her own in the chaos of high school on the first day of the year. The hallways are packed, the behaviour shocking, and how do you tell the teachers apart from the students?

Soon there is a light among the confusion. Her English class is the worst, full of loud, rude and ridiculous boy behaviour that the teacher can’t seem to reign in. There is one other girl in English however, named Libby. Tara and Libby team up for class projects and then desks next to each other.

Just when Tara thinks she has high school nailed down, other things rise up, confusing her further. What music is cool? What’s not? How should she act around her sister’s older friends? Did she make a fool of herself in front of Libby?

This whole skip-a-year deal is the worst idea ever suggested in the history of high schools, but maybe, just maybe, with her big sister’s help, Tara will survive, understand and grow into it.

This graphic novel captures all the angst and confusion of the first year of high school, first crushes, and first meet ups with older kids, all while skipping a whole year of social development and 8th grade / year 8.

Tara might be ready academically but she is far from ready socially – having to learn fast in class, in the school hallways, and whilst making new friendships.

The fun illustration style, without graphic novel panels, allows so much more to be shared on the page. It’s an entertaining style, clearly showing when Tara is in ‘play’ mode with her baby brother, or full-on imagination mode as she spirals into worries about attending high school.

Exploring all it is to be a new teen in a new school before you’re ready, How it all ends is funny, clever and authentic. 

Author – Illustrator – Emma Hunsinger

Age – 12+

Graphic Novel

(2024, Harper Collins, School, Growing up, Humour, Secret, Peer Pressure, Family, Friendship, Crush, Self Esteem, Confusion, Teen Angst, English Class, High School, Skipping years, Funny, Sisters, Siblings, Imagination)