Graphic Novel Review: Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks

Posted on February 20, 2024 at 6:42 am by Gene Ambaum

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second, 2023. 9781250838728. 287pp plus some extras in the back.

Alix is an awesome hockey player, but she’s in trouble for punching out her team captain (who, frankly, deserved it). One day at high school she sees Ezra, a theater dude, calmly dealing with a bully hassling him for being gay. Alix asks him to teach her, and she becomes his apprentice. They hang out. After a while she finds out what we readers have known for a while — that Ezra is actually bi — and they start dating. This is a big deal for Alix, who has never even kissed anyone, and their getting together is wonderfully awkward. Both have a hard time with their mothers, but for different reasons (their fathers are both out of the picture), and Ezra’s best friend isn’t really in favor of his new relationship (for a good reason).

It’s a wonderfully written and drawn romantic YA graphic novel that will appeal to a wide swath of readers — in fact I’d say it’s Hicks’ best yet — her comics just get better and better — though I don’t think any book will ever replace Friends With Boys as my favorite book by her.