Kyle’s Little Sister, a graphic novel friendly manga for middle school

Kyle’s Little Sister is a manga-esque graphic novel that really knows the soul of a sixth-grade girl. The more mature fifth-grade students will see themselves in the characters also. It mirrors their emotions, interactions, peer groups, and sibling rivalries so accurately that it’ll take you back to the halls of yesteryear or to yesterday, whichever is closer.

The setup to Kyle’s Little Sister is established in its title and the cover’s image. We see a dour-looking girl, who is partially obscured by a shadow. The shadow is both a metaphor and a physical act as she’s casting evil glances toward a taller, more confident-looking boy. Now, re-read the title of the book, and you’ll see why Grace finds herself in such a pickle.

Grace is the titular sister in the book. She’s quickly introduced to readers as the younger sister of Kyle, a super popular boy who can apparently do no wrong. And now, after years of going to separate schools, Kyle and Grace are attending the same one. Grace is starting sixth grade and has constantly been referred to as Kyle’s little sister, and that’s how she’s greeted when she arrives at school. Some students marvel at how cool it must be to live with him, others say that they thought she’d be taller and a couple of them might have more duplicitous intentions.

Grace sees a couple of her friends who she knew from elementary school. A couple of them also have older siblings, so it’s natural for all of them to hang out sometimes. It’s natural, but the difference in age can be annoying for some and unsure for others. They like different things, the younger kids want to appear older while the older kids want their space and sometimes want to talk about more mature things, like dating or your latest crush.  

It’s here where things happen in the story that throws Grace’s life sideways. There’s a misunderstanding, friendships are strained, new ‘friends’ might not have the best intentions, and the situation you thought was bad or unfair, might just have been the right one all along. In other words, Kyle’s Little Sister is life as a middle school student, and if you like manga, this is just your cup of tea.

I had a sixth-grade student the other day who loved anime. She was saying that I looked like some bald dude in a show that I had no idea what she was talking about, and in an effort to get her back to ELA, I asked if she liked manga. “What’s manga”, she replied. In some circles that’s like trying to define ‘art’. With this in mind, I told her that manga was a popular style of art, often seen in thick form comic books, where emojis float around the character’s heads, their eyes might suddenly appear as stars and the art style is similar to anime.

I pulled out Kyle’s Little Sister as an example. She immediately said that she knew the style of which I was referring to and continued trying to get me back on the anime conversation. If you’re a reader who loves all things involving the past paragraph and a half then Kyle’s Little Sister is your jam. Even if you’re not, and all things anime are Greek to you, the story within the graphic novel will resonate with readers if they give it a chance.

This style of art seems to find its own audience. Manga or books that have that style are consistently some of the most checked out at middle and high school libraries. They tell a deep story while appearing to be very simple in nature and Kyle’s Little Sister is no exception to that. The glossy pages might help some readers who would otherwise avoid manga. It’s that fact that makes it skew into the graphic novel, Venn diagram for some folks. Consider it a gateway into a genre that readers dig exclusively and others simply enjoy from time to time.

Kyle’s Little Sister is by BonHyung Joeng and available on Yen Press.

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