Duel

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Author(s)

Jessixa Bagley

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Aaron Bagley

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

November 07, 2023

ISBN

978-1534496545

Buy This Book

A rivalry between sisters culminates in a fencing duel in this funny and emotional debut graphic novel sure to appeal to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale.

Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to middle school. GiGi is the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade (as well as everything else she does). They’ve only got one thing in common: fencing. Oh, and they’re sisters. They never got along super well, but ever since their dad died, it seems like they’re always at each other’s throats.

When GiGi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the first day of school, Lucy snaps and challenges GiGi to a duel with high sisterly stakes. If GiGi wins, Lucy promises to stay out of GiGi’s way; if Lucy wins, GiGi will stop teasing Lucy for good. But after their scene in the cafeteria, both girls are on thin ice with the principal and their mom. Lucy stopped practicing fencing after their fencer dad died and will have to get back to fighting form in secret or she’ll be in big trouble. And GiGi must behave perfectly or risk getting kicked off the fencing team.

As the clock ticks down to the girls’ fencing bout, the anticipation grows. Their school is divided into GiGi and Lucy factions, complete with t-shirts declaring kids’ all

Editor review

1 review

A new look at sisters fighting

October 06, 2023

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Sisters Lucy and Gigi are constantly sniping at each other, and when Lucy starts middle school, things get worse. On the very first day, Gigi's friends comment on Lucy's presence, enraging Gigi so much that she trips her sister, who falls dramatically. Tired of this treatment, Lucy grabs Gigi's fencing foil and challenges her to a duel. Both girls are sent to the principal's office, their mother is called away from her busy nursing job, and they are admonished to stop fighting, especially at school. Their mother is beside herself. The family's beloved father and husband, a fencing instructor, died not too long ago, and everyone is struggling. Gigi feels like her father loved Lucy better, and Lucy feels like her sister was able to spend more time with him, since he taught her how to fence. Along with her friend Sasha, Lucy starts to learn fencing, reading books and watching how-to videos. The girls aren't really able to keep their animosity at a simmer, and it is constantly boiling up. Gigi's resentment of her sister seems to center around the fact that Lucy stole a page from her diary and uncovered a secret of which she is particularly ashamed. As the whole school looks forward to the sister's duel, will the girls be able to find a way out of their grief in order to go on with their lives?

Good Points

I always thought it would be good to have a sister, but after reading Martin's Sweet Valley Twins,
Telgemaier's Sisters, and Davis' Figure it Out, Henri Weldon, and Hale's Real Friends, I'm not so sure! The toxic nature of Lucy and Gigi's relationship is so completely awful, and rooted in such deep emotions that I wish they had been shown seeing therapists. My own daughter like to read books where people went through terrible experiences, since she said it made her own life look better, so perhaps this is the thought behind this story.

Towards the end of the book, the girls do start to communicate and work through some of their problems, and their mother also admits that she hasn't handled the father's death all that well. In an end note, the author discusses her own family relationships, and includes the information that she lost her own father at the age of 19, so this is based on some real life emotions. I was glad to see that there was a very supportive grandmother, and that Lucy had Sasha at her side.

There is a wealth of information about fencing practices and procedures in the book, and anyone looking into that sport will find this to be fascinating. Each chapter starts with an overview of a move or technique, and there is a match depicted with good detail.

Readers who enjoyed the one other fencing book I can think of, Rhodes' Black Brother, Black Brother, or the familial relationships in Mericle's Bad Sister and Johnson's Twins, will find this graphic novel by the Bagley wife and husband team to be an interesting look at sibling dynamics, which is made more intriguing by the addition of weapons, even though they aren't dangerous ones!