Club Kick Out!: Into the Ring

by Steph Mided, Steph Mided (Illustrator)

Overview

“A laugh-out-loud, hilarious, action-packed treat!” —Kristen Gudsnuk, author of Making Friends

In this punchy and energetic middle grade graphic novel, six artistic misfits take matters into their own hands when their principal cancels all creative extracurricular clubs at their school.

When the school principal cancels Sasha’s gaming club, she’s crushed—but not alone. Turns out theater, cosplay, and choir clubs are canceled too, and tons of kids are left without a space to let their creativity shine. Just when she thinks all hope is lost, a class project leads Sasha and her new friends somewhere they never expected—a local wrestling match—where costumes, secret identities, and catchphrases abound. It’s there an idea is formed.

Enter Club Kick Out!

But not everyone is on board with this flashy new club, so when Sasha and her friends take their performances too far, trouble starts brewing. With friendships on the ropes and an unexpected injury in the ring, it looks like the end for these up-and-coming performers. Can Sasha and her friends make a comeback in time for Club Kick Out to give the school a match they’ll never forget…or is this young club officially down for the count? 

A Junior Library Guild Selection!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063116467
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Series:	Club Kick Out , #1
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,092,382
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Steph Mided is a comic artist and illustrator from Chicago, Illinois, who loves all things comedic, cute, and colorful. When she isn’t working on comics, she spends her time collecting records and stopping her two cats from spilling drinks all over her desk.

Steph Mided is a comic artist and illustrator from Chicago, Illinois, who loves all things comedic, cute, and colorful. When she isn’t working on comics, she spends her time collecting records and stopping her two cats from spilling drinks all over her desk.

Editorial Reviews

Buzzy, brightly colored, manga-influenced art. [An] energetic series opener.” — Kirkus Reviews

“This bright and engaging graphic novel will speak to middle graders needs for personal recognition and group acceptance, all while introducing them to the behind-the-scenes veracity of staged wrestling.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

Gr 3–8—When the new principal at Custard Creek Middle School bans all extra-curricular activities except football and its cheering squad, Sasha and her friends mourn the loss of their various passion clubs: game scripting, theater, and art, chief among them. In Mided's energetic imagery and equally peppy pacing, the kids decide to develop a wrestling team that combines their interests in plot and character development, costuming, and self-expression. Discovering that the school nurse is herself a pro-wrestler makes identifying a coach the necessary added tool with which they make their case to the principal—and win it on a probationary basis. Friendships, personalities, and setbacks are as diverse and credible as the kids' appearances of various body types, genders, and skin tones. VERDICT This bright and engaging graphic novel will speak to middle graders needs for personal recognition and group acceptance, all while introducing them to the behind-the-scenes veracity of staged wrestling.—Francisca Goldsmith

School Library Journal

2023-07-13
A group of middle schoolers without an extracurricular to call their own find pro wrestling a perfect outlet for their passions.

Custard Creek Middle School has a new principal with a surprising plan for revamping the school’s finances: He’s canceling all the arts and other clubs and solely funding athletic programs. This sits poorly with the nonsporty students who find emotional outlets through activities like video games, theater, and cosplay. Enter a serendipitous loophole. When a group of these frustrated kids attends a local women’s wrestling expo full of elaborate characters engaging in choreographed confrontations, they have a light-bulb moment: Why not funnel their own stifled creative energies into a wrestling club that requires dramatic imagination, cool costumes, and gamelike storylines? Much of the story centers on starting up the club—finding a faculty sponsor, planning their first match, and acting out an overly zealous pep rally/food fight. The infectious appeal of adolescent self-realization drives the story, but in laying the groundwork for future volumes, this series opener delves deeply into logistics, and the development of the expansive cast is light. The buzzy, brightly colored, manga-influenced art underlines emotional reactions with sparkly, wide-eyed close-ups reminiscent of Gale Galligan’s work on the Baby-Sitters Club graphic-novel adaptations. The student body is racially diverse; most characters with central storylines appear white.

Creativity and athletic endeavor forge a surprising alliance in this energetic series opener. (Graphic fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews