Band Nerd by Sarah Clawson Willis joins the growing list of graphic novels tackling serious issues that affect many middle schoolers. Lucy, the band nerd, starts going to a new school with a fancy band program, but her parents don’t understand why band is so important to her. Lucy believes that if she can be the best flute player in school then her life will go back to what it was like before her father’s alcoholism spiraled out of control – if only it was that easy.

Though there are brief moments of joy when Lucy is playing flute or baking for her friends, the story is overwhelmingly heavy. The cartoony, Telgemeier-esk illustrations do not match the tone and are inconsistent in quality, with many blank backgrounds, unfinished secondary characters, and an overall draft-like appearance. There are many scenes that could be scary for children who have or haven’t been exposed to alcoholism – including Lucy having to help her undressed father out of the tub, Lucy breaking into her father’s room during an overdose, and a relapse where her father makes her friends feel unsafe during a sleepover. If her homelife wasn’t upsetting enough, Lucy also struggles academically and with friends.

Though this is the reality many kids live with and it was semi-autobiographical for the author, the story lacked balance and could be too upsetting for the target audience. The author noted Hey, Kiddo as an inspiration, but Hey, Kiddo is often cataloged as YA and the moody gray/brown images set the reader up for the kind of story they will be reading. Band Nerd could help kids in scary situations feel less alone, but librarians should know that this is about a lot more than band.

Reviewed by Ivy Burns, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth