Act, by Kayla Miller. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Raincoast. 2020. $18.99 ages 10 and up

"Is this what sit-ins are 
supposed to look like? 

Well, in the videos I
watched, the protesters
all held signs and would
sing or chant ... and ideally,
we'd have more people.

I didn't have the time to
come up with a song or
slogan or make more signs."

This is the third graphic novel in a series, following Click (2019) and Camp (2019). Olive is pretty excited to be starting her grade six year. She looks forward to meeting new friends, new teachers and finally getting to go on a field trip to the theater in the city. When they get back Olive is surprised to find her friend Beth crying in the washroom, and learns that she was not able to go on the trip because her mom did not have enough money to send her.

At the same time, the sixth-grade classes has been asked to name, by election, two student representatives to the student council. Trent and Sawyer, two of Olive's best friends, decide to run together on a platform to bring chocolate pudding back to the cafeteria lunch program. They are loud, funny, and almost obnoxious about it. Olive, having thought carefully about those students who cannot afford to go on field trips, decides that she will run with hopes of changing school policy to fund all students.

As the competition heats up, Olive begins to listen to other students about their particular issues and feels she should take a stand for them. Can she run in the election without losing her friends? She decides that she must do something if she can. Emotional and uplifting, this is a terrific story about taking a stand and making a difference for her classmates.

Olive is a great character, inspiring and thoughtful. Her family supports her, as do her friends. Her new story is a welcome addition to a very popular series.

In the Odds and Ends that follow, Ms. Miller includes a recipe for the Mint Chocolate Chip-Ins cookies the students make for the bake sale held to fund all student field trips. As well, she briefly describes Protests of the Past and offers a list of suggested reading materials.

https://youtu.be/Z1-NH5Q1bQ8