Art Club by Rashad Doucet is fun. It has a modern take on things, has a mostly diverse cast, and while we know the coming of age story, it is fresh. Best for ages 10 and up (younger can read, but I’m not sure the concepts would be okay for some. Content is fine). There were a few bumps (things solved too conveniently, a few cliches for the adult characters) but overall everything works well.
The idea is how the adults in our main character’s life are all about jobs, money making and “being happy” but not necessarily at your job. You need that for financial security. And of course, Art cannot be that. The cliches are how the grandfather and the vice principal/teacher are really against Dale. Well, the vice principal is, his grandfather loves him, he just doesn’t understand him like the grandmother did. Lots of ins and outs later, Dale and four classmates find themselves in the middle of an experiment to show how art can be a job that is profitable and is fun. Of course, each of them are radically different (the shy girl whose only friends are gamers online and even then not too many as she has limited access to being on her computer; Dale who is outgoing, confused, missing his beloved grandmother; the eco-environmentalist who uses junk/trash to make art/be a performance artist; and last but not least the Jock who is Dale’s best friend, great at everything and might have a talent at art that rivals Dales.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, though I probably won’t go onto sequels (if they happen), but might find other things by the author/illustrator. The artwork is bold, simple, but detailed when needed. In the extras, I enjoyed seeing how the characters changed and for the budding artist they might give a few tips.