Book: Stepping Stones, Apple Crush, and Sugar Shack by Lucy Knisley
Genre: Graphic novel
Publisher: RH Graphic
Publication date: 2020, 2022, 2025

Source: Print books borrowed from the library

Summary: Stepping Stones, Apple Crush, and Sugar Shack are three graphic novels set on Peapod Farm that tell the story of Jen. Her parents divorced and suddenly she finds herself living on a farm in upstate New York instead of New York City.

Jen encounters many new things from mean geese and stupid chickens to new people at school and the market where she sells berries and flowers. And she draws them all.

Thoughts: The fall equinox feels like a good time to review a book series that is arranged in seasons. Each book is set in a different season — summer, fall, and winter. I haven’t seen any evidence that we will get a spring one but I hope so. The series feels a little incomplete without it.

I borrowed the books from the library which was perfect for me. If I had children in the house, I think I would enjoy owning these books so that I could pull each one out in its appropriate season and read it a few times. The themes and pictures would provide good reminders to be observant about the season that we’re currently experiencing.

Appeal: The Peapod Farm series is for middle graders. Children of divorce and students starting a new school will appreciate the commiseration. Young artists will enjoy seeing Jen’s notebooks. Farm kids will get a kick out of seeing kids perform chores and attend 4-H events.

I also enjoyed these books as an adult reader who appreciates seasons and Lucy Knisley’s style of art and story-telling.

Here are the other books that I’ve read by Lucy Knisley:

• French Milk
• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
• An Age of License and Displacement
• Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride