Fifth Quarter

I love a good girls-centered sports graphic novel that I can recommend to middle grade readers who’ve read all the Raina, and Fifth Quarter is definitely one of those! Sure ,the noses on all the characters remind me of Hey Arnold, but maybe middle graders look different now. Anyway, this was a great MG graphic novel, and if you have a reader looking for sports books that aren’t about being a phenom at something, this is for you.

The Fifth Quarter by Mike Dawson is a graphic novel all about Lori, an elementary school basketball player who isn’t that good. I mean, she’s not the WORST right, but she only really plays in the Fifth Quarter, the mini, unscored game before the real game, before going back to the bench. But Lori likes working on her skills, especially because she wants to be better. So when she’s got a chance to go to a good sports camp, she’s excited. but this is a MG graphic novel, so there’s a lot of friendship drama. Can Lori learn not to be so territorial on the court? Can she learn to support her friends who want to get better to? Can she learn to stop double-dribbling?

I love MG graphic novels, and this one’s coloring is great! It has a good text to picture ratio, and while yes, the noses on these characters remind me of Hey Arnold, I still enjoyed it overall!

A solid 4.5 star read for me!

The Fifth Quarter is available where books are sold or you know…the library.