POWER ON!

Four racially and ethnically diverse friends confront a variety of obstacles in their freshman year of high school, supporting each other along the way.

After having spent the summer learning about racist biases in artificial intelligence, celebrating Juneteenth, and participating in a Black Lives Matter protest, socially aware friends Christine, Taylor, Antonio, and Jon are ready to enter ninth grade at three different high schools. But school presents each of them with situations that color their experiences in both affirming and discouraging ways. The friends strengthen their bonds over a shared interest in technology and a desire to create the change they want to see by learning about and advocating for advances in computer science. Where the graphic novel excels at authentic representation of teenagers navigating hard times, difficult people, and frustrating problems, it stumbles and stalls at illuminating a clear path for readers to follow. This fictional narrative that is peppered with factual interjections attempts to address a broad range of issues, including racism, bullying, homophobia, undocumented immigrant status, school counselors with low expectations, dismissive teachers, and family challenges. The result is that none of these topics is developed in sufficient depth, the narrative is difficult to follow at times, and a sense of resolution is lacking. The color illustrations are vivid, with panels that are easy to follow and characters who are clearly differentiated.

What this story showcases in breadth it unfortunately loses in focus.