Whaddya got?
When Benny’s mom asks him to put his dishes in the sink, Benny replies, “What would you do if I said no?” And so is set into motion the events of And What If I Won’t? by Maureen Fergus, with illustrations by Qin Leng (OwlKids, 32 pp, $18, ages 3-6). Benny’s mom tells him the increasingly ridiculous consequences that will incur if he keeps disobeying her, and Benny keeps challenging them. Benny has no intention to actually defy anyone, but he wants to play at the role of rebel. Less a book about breaking the rules and more about questioning why they were there to begin with, And What If I Won’t? explores challenging the status quo in a creative way. Both finicky children and their parents will find a lot to relate to in the story of Benny and his mother, but grown-ups be warned: introduce this book to your child, and be prepared to answer a lot of questions. Twelve-year-old Astrid, the main character in Victoria Jamieson’s graphic novel Roller Girl (Dial Books, 240 pp, $15, ages 8-12) has no real complaints about her life, but has long been trying to find a spot in which she can feel like she truly belongs. When her mother brings her to watch a roller derby match, Astrid believes she has found her calling, and ends up enrolled in derby camp. Her summer is spent with a new crew, after dying her hair bright blue in the bathroom sink. Astrid’s rebellions are less about breaking out of an old system and more about finding a new one that speaks to her constantly growing identity — though, as she quickly learns, every system has its own challenges that which she must learn to deal. It’s proto-punk politics for the tween set, presenting a candy-coloured world with a rock-hard centre.