5/5 stars
Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles is written in the format of a sketchbook, and in the voice of a 7th grader, Dodo, telling the story of her family's move to San Francisco and the transitions they all experience. Dodo sketches and tells her story in a notebook, beginning with their drive to San Francisco, highlighting what she already knows about herself, that she is a visual learner and she learns better when she can doodle.
She has been diagnosed as ADHD, an attention disorder, but has chosen not to take medication so she can deal with it in her own way, if her teachers will allow it. Why do we make rules? And who decides who should follow the rules and why? Should we all be the same person, or should we celebrate and embrace our differences? Doodlebug (Dodo's new name at her new school) faces these questions head-on as she tries to fit in to her new school. She's made new friends, but will she be able to stay at her new school with its rules?
