Graphic Novel Review: Four Eyes by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza

Posted on August 24, 2023 at 6:34 am by Gene Ambaum

Four Eyes by Rex Ogle & Dave Valeza. Scholastic Graphix, 2023. 9781338574968. 220pp.

Rex just started middle school, but there’s a lack of familiar faces there because school district boundaries have just been redrawn. He and his friend Drew aren’t as close as they were in grade school, and Drew’s friends all seem to be jerks. Rex has problems at school as he and his family figure out that he can’t see well and that he needs glasses. These problems are exacerbated by the fact this his mom and stepfather don’t have much money, and he has to settle for glasses that are less than stylish. Cue Rex becoming the center of attention for all of the jerks at school. Though his family is supportive (except for his birth father, who seems like a real bastard), it takes Rex a while to appreciate them. And (minor spoiler) of course he becomes friends with the comic book-reading kid who the jerks at school also make fun of.

I loved this book far more than I expected to based on the back cover blurb (heading: “What A Spectacle”) and I highly recommend it for children’s library collections. The art is great and works together perfectly with the words in a balance that’s hard to achieve. This is an example of the best of the Scholastic Graphix style of storytelling — there’s a problem at the center, some realistic complications, and the story feels personal.