Review: How to Pick a Fight

Title: How to Pick a Fight
Author: Lara Kaminoff
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Nobrow
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 5, 2021
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Scrappy young Jimmy is a pro wrestler in the making, and he’s up for taking on anyone and anything. From his own family, his schoolwork, wild animals and pirates, he’s challenging the world one small fight at a time, but can his hopes and dreams take him all the way to stellar success? Or will his fists finally get him into too much trouble?

Jimmy dreams of one day being recognised as JIMMY RUCKUS, world famous featherweight, beloved by all but in his eleven-strong house, Jimmy is the last thing on anyone’s minds. He knows he’s destined for greatness, so he sets off to seek his fortune. What he finds are circus animals, painters, pirates and heavyweight champs, each one challenging Jimmy’s idea of success. By the end of it, Jimmy realises he has to decide whether living life fist first is all it’s cracked up to be. Lara Kaminoff’s stellar art style and sharp characters give us a snappy, fresh story about a scrappy kid who means well, but never quite gets it right.

Review:

Jimmy dreams of becoming a pro wrestler, like his idol Pimmy. When he’s constantly ignored by his large family, he decides to run away and make his dreams a reality. He goes on a journey where he encounters circus animals, pirates, a painter, and a castaway. Each of these encounters make Jimmy question if his dream is really the only path to success.

This graphic novel had a really good premise. Jimmy felt overlooked by his family, so his solution was to run away. However, it wasn’t as easy to follow his dream of becoming a pro wrestler as he thought it would be. He saw a lot of people who had worked hard all their lives yet hadn’t reached the levels of success that he expected.

By the comical cover and exaggerated look of Jimmy’s hair, I expected this story to be funnier. There were some serious learning moments that I wasn’t expecting. There was a surprising twist near the end, but I found the ending to be too open ended. I would have liked to see a more positive and concrete ending to Jimmy’s story.

How to Pick a Fight was a good graphic novel.

Thank you Nobrow Press for providing a copy of this book.

What to read next:

Have you read How to Pick a Fight? What did you think of it?