Charisma’s Turn is a young adult graphic novel about a girl whose sometimes explosive behavior gets redirected into more meaningful actions when a guidance counselor helps her build different habits and tap into her passions. She ends up joining a social justice group at school and learns about environmental racism. This graphic novel is concise and is an important story. Some may not like the art style, but the only real critique I have about the visuals is that occasionally the speech bubbles are not intuitive and awkwardly placed, which at times confused the dialogue order.

This subject is very interessant and necessary. I think it would be make a great addition to a school library to help children get a better understanding about racial injustice. I liked that it also give tools to help deal with strong emotions.
I’ll admit though the art style was not my taste and quite different from the cover. Plus, there were a lot of white squares all over the pages that took me out of it.

Only four stars because I wish there were more to Charisma’s story! I loved the direct approach to some unfortunate trends we are seeing especially in schools regarding black girls. This book shines a light while also providing solutions and hope. I would’ve liked to have seen Charisma’s plan at the end develop more thoroughly to show readers—especially young people—that change is possible and they can be catalysts for it.

Charisma is a high schooler with "anger issues". She's a latch key kid who has responsibilities at home that keep her from being just a kid. She feels belittled at school by fellow students and teachers. At school her anger leads her to angry confrontations and fights that routinely put her in the hands of the resource officer (who has no problem using force) and leads her to the principals office. Repeatedly. Finally, instead of Principal Lopez following through on suspending Charisma, he brings in school counselor, Ms. Anderson. Anderson introduces Charisma to the concept of a Restorative Circle, a safe place for individuals in conflict to sit and talk about what happened, what lead to the incident, identifying the harm that took place and how amends can be made. Ms. Anderson sees in Charisma something she does not see in herself- the capacity for leadership and ability to identify injustice around her and the willingness to fight for it. She turns Charisma onto literature by black writers such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Audrey Lorde. She also encourages Charisma to participate in an after-school social justice group. Charisma is able to take what she is learning and uses her agency and passion to address real change and acts of environmental and social justice in her community.
The first thing that drew me to this title was the artwork. The art work and coloring is delicious! Bold lines and contrasts, the way color is used to express emotion, place and dream. The way faces are drawn, the representation of the specific community this book represents, all of this felt original and specific. Secondly, I loved how Charisma is encouraged to use her passions, her intelligence, her anger and her joy to transform herself and the world around her. It gave real and relatable instances of racialized environmental justice issues, as well as shows how restorative justice is a superior method for dealing with conflict than the western system of punishment. I would highly, highly recommend this novel as an example of a teen coming into their power in an authentic and realistic way.

This book is a thoughtful and celebratory ode to Black girlhood. I appreciate how Dr. Couvson put Black girls’ lived experiences in conversation with Black women authors, thinkers, and school staff. I highly recommend folks purchase this book to add depth to their understanding of how we might honor and hold space for Black girls’ full brilliance.

Thanks to NetGalley and special thanks to the publisher for helping me past my technical problems so I could read this ARC.
This one is special.
This graphic novel centers on a teen girl, Charisma, who has a tough life and tends to get into fights. But instead of punishing her yet again after a fight, a totally inspired counselor takes a look at her, realizes she has so much potential and figures out how to engage her and make space for her, and good things happen. I also love how this book mentions The Bluest Eye, and how it helped inspire Charisma. Sadly, this book is frequently challenged and banned. Highly recommended.

I saw the author of this book speak about the current problem of fragile people banning books from libraries literally 10 minutes after hearing that her book was on the list. What I got from her response was: when they ban you, wear it as a badge of honor and don’t shy away from the impact you’re making. And never consider letting it silence you.

Charisma is a strong young woman without the skills to express the outrage she feels at being overlooked in many ways. With a dedicated mentor, and an honest chance, she shows how valuable she is, how a little guidance and trust can invigorate a child’s mind, and how the esteem can soar when someone believes in you. All children deserve that chance.

And somehow, this was deemed objectionable enough and warranted a ban. My opinion on why: Insecure people fear strong youth. They particularly fear the rise of black youth, and especially black female youth. They seek to control it, not foster it. Being part of a dying demographic scares them. Me, I can’t wait until their fears come true—I think the youth are exciting and can’t wait to see where they take us next.

The colors used in these illustrations were so vibrant and beautiful! This story emphasizes the fact that you really just need one person to genuinely believe in you and your potential to get things going for yourself. It also taught me a couple things about environmental racism, so I highly recommend if you're looking for a graphic novel that has substance. I just wish it were longer because I wanted to see how Charisma's big project turned out!