This was a really cute story and i really enjoyed it!! A couple scenes felt kind of clunky and awkward but for the most part it was pretty good!!

5/5 adorable ⭐️’s

A massive thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Cheer Up!

I requested this graphic novel 100% because of the cover but stayed for how precious this book was! Following a trans girl who is the leader of the cheerleading team and is learning how to say no to people and learn that it’s okay to put yourself first. And Annie the schools outcast who is forced into cheerleading to add an extra curricular to her college application. Annie and Bebe used to be best friends but after a falling out haven’t talked for a couple years, but Bebe vouches for Annie to join the cheerleading team and as their friendship reconnects an adorable romance will bloom!

From the story itself to the writing style I just adored this and will 100% be buying a physical copy when this is out to reread again and again!

Cheer Up is a sweet queer teen story that's full of heart. The art is beautiful and the plot is just adorable. It's only a snapshot, a very short insight into the lives of the two main characters, but we manage to get a real sense of who they are and the journey they've been on so far. There's a lot packed in to not many pages! The story feels whole and wraps us nicely, but I would love more of Bebe and Annie in the future.

Beneath the cute, there are a lot of lovely, meaningful messages about acceptance and what it means to truly support your friends. This graphic novel is full of great representation, not just from the main protagonists, but also the secondary characters.

Recommended for all graphic novel fans, particularly those looking for great LGBTQ+ representation in a light-hearted, but still meaningful, story.

I loved this! I must have missed that it was a graphic novel but it made it even more amazing - queer rep/trans rep/fat rep! It was perfect and I can't wait to get a physical copy to own!

This was a very interesting graphic novel about a transgender cheerleader. I think this is very relevant in our society now. There is also some bullying that the characters have to work through. I liked the parents and their perspective.

I received an eARC of Cheer Up: Love and Pom Poms by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise, and Oscar Jupiter from @netgalley and @onipress in exchange for an honest review.

This is a light and sweet graphic novel about two cheerleaders discovering first love and learning more about themselves. Bebe is trans and the team treats her like a token or mascot. Annie is a grumpy iconoclast who needs cheerleading to pad her college applications. They used to be best friends and it’s never clear why they fell out of touch but they reconnect through cheerleading. They crush on each other and they smooch. The ending wraps up a little too quickly and nicely. The cheer team magically realizes they were treating Bebe badly and her parents suddenly accept her and give her more freedom.

I give this four fizzy feel-good stars. I really enjoyed this graphic novel and the art was great.

Cheer Up is one of the sweetest graphic novels I've read recently! As a middle school teacher, I can't wait to add it to my classroom library. The book consists of a group of diverse characters (also inclusive of size-- cheerleaders don't look like the ones you expect from pop culture which is rad) and it goes over some important themes like friendship and microaggressions in a very accessible way without being too on the nose.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms is an adorable LGBT graphic novel featuring one of my favorite ship dynamics: grumpy x sunshine. And I honestly loved reading about Annie, BeeBee and the other girls on the cheer squad. This was a cute romance but it also leaned heavily into the importance of friendship and properly supporting your friends who need it.

This graphic novel is short but it still found a way to perfectly demonstrate the harmfulness of performative activism. I think this will be an important book for young readers, because when the other girls feel like they have to over protect BeeBee or make a show out of her being trans, they realize that they aren't really listening to her needs. It is only when they start to listen to her that they're all able to be better, happier friends.

The art in this was also beautiful. I loved the style and colors. Overall it was a really enjoyable read. The only drawback was that I wish there had been just a few more pages in some of the moments where Annie and BeeBee were bonding and rebuilding their friendship into something more. Their chemistry was clear and I loved them together, but it still felt kind of rushed.

rep: trans latina MC, lesbian MC, nonbinary SC, POC SCs
TWs: transphobia, sexual harrassment, fatphobia

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an arc of this book!

I absolutely adored this read! It is the perfect fluffy and wholesome read that follows two main characters Annie, an anti-social, plus-sized lesbian who is mad at the world and Bebe, a trans girl who is scared to stand up for herself and be in the spotlight. Both start out on teh cheerleading team andf their relationship starts from there.

I loved the way in which both Annie and Bebes struggles were addressed. Showing the blantant forms of transphobia and the micro-aggressions that can occur. I also liked the way in which Annie was educated on a problem she was also contributing to and took it in her stride to understand and stop!

I would have loved to see more on the family dynamic between both bebe and her family but also Annie and hers!

Overall this was a really wholesome read and I would highly recommend it!!

This is a really sweet story about Annie and BeeBee and their friendship. The two girls used to be friends, but have drifted apart a bit over the years. When Annie is encouraged to join a team - cheerleading no less - to try and improve her college applications, she's reunited with BeeBee.

As well as dealing with school grades, parents, and teen drama, they're also experiencing everything that comes with being queer high schoolers; the good and the difficult. The two become close and eventually discover there might be more than friendship ...

It was such a cute story, while also covering some really important issues that arise through the characters and their lives. I loved the style of art in this graphic novel, illustrated by Val Wise. It's definitely my favourite type of graphic novel; soft and round, rather than sharp and edgy, if you know what I mean.

If you're looking for a sweet tale of friendship and love (and pompoms), then pick up Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms, when it comes out in August.

super super cute, if a bit choppy. the storyline is pretty straightforward but the pacing is off, and things move just a little too fast to feel natural. plus, there’s the whole backstory between bebe and annie we never even really get a peak at. why did they stop being friends? why did annie have so much animosity towards bebe before they reconnected?

regardless, i sped through and finished in about an hour. the relationship is sweet and the novel itself brings up a lot of really important issues surrounding trans identities!

This was so sweet and fun! I loved seeing the different personalities in the cheer team, and the main romance was really cute. I liked that Bebe's friends were called out when their behavior wasn't right, but it was also clear that they were supportive the whole time even if they didn't know the best way to go about it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This graphic novel was a quick, but extremely important read packed full with purpose. Through lovable characters, sweet romance, and beautiful artwork, this book tackled microaggressions facing trans people, gender and sexuality fluidity, rape culture, performative activism, objectification, sexism and feminism, and stereotypes! This book opened my mind to a lot of the seemingly insignificant everyday activities that I take for granted, and brought attention to the ways in which I can be a better ally to trans individuals moving forward. The struggles Beatrice faced throughout the book were expressed in raw and genuine ways, showing the complex problems trans people are forced to experience -- whether that include being forced to act as a spokesperson for their community, dealing with performative activists, unwanted attention from peers following their transition, and more.

It's insane to me how such a short book could contain such powerful messages and topics while still maintaining such an even pace for the plot. Not only that, the dialogue was clever and offered humor in light of the serious nature of so many of the messages in the book. The relationship between Beatrice and Anne was really sweet as well, however I did find myself wishing for more development or lead up to their romance. I feel like, overall, I could have done with a longer story, or perhaps a more drawn out ending, but it may also be because I didn't want this book to end!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sapphic romance, excellent diversity and inclusion, and girl power!

This story follows Annie, a smart, antisocial lesbian, who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications and BeeBee who is a people-pleaser—a trans girl, she must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition.

This was a short and cute story about how two former friends rekindle their friendship and discover that there could be something more between them.

The characters are very lovable and totally opposites, I liked seeing how they both helped each other with different things.

I really liked the illustrations and had fun reading this story!

CWs: transphobia, microaggressions, harassment, depiction of abusive courtship
Rep: lesbian MC, trans girl MC, nonbinary side character

This was a fun, adorable and important graphic novel. This story is about a trans girl and a fat-girl forming frienship over cheerleading. Both deals with their own issues. This graphic novels deals with important topics like transphobia and fat-shaming and still it is not a heavy read. I wish this was a little longer because I wanted to know more about Beatrice and Annie. Their character development was so amazing.

Definitely recommend it.

This graphic novel captured my heart and played with my emotions. Following Bebe and Annie navigate re-forming their long lost friendship when Annie is aggressively encouraged to join the cheerleading team. </spoiler> was heart warming. I found myself immersed in their worlds and frustrated by the ignorance of the people around them, both obvious and subtle. I also found myself cheering for Annie and Bebe's growing relationship, and incredible joyful as it deepened and grew. Their ability to grow and help each other grow was heartwarming. I wish I had books like this that depicted the love I never thought I could have in a completely normalized manner. Bebe and Annie's love story will make your heart happy, and bring you hope from the next generation of children.

So cute! I loved the art & Annie and Bebe wonderful romantic leads! They were the best of opposites-attract, friends-to-lovers, & awkward-teen-romance! Their growth was beautiful to watch. Would love to see more of them in the future. Will 100% be recommending to friends and to my local library!

Cheer Up is a sweet, funny queer graphic novel.
BeeBee and ANnie used to be friends. Annie is a lesbian that hates anything girly. BeeBee is trans who is the captain of the cheerleaders. When Annie is forced to try out for cheerleading to improve her college applications, the two rekindle their friendship.

this graphic novel was an absolute delight!! following annie, a fat, grumpy lesbian with a soft heart, and bebe, a sapphic, biracial trans girl learning to stand up for herself, i loved the diversity and happiness packed into this short story. annie is encouraged to join the cheerleading team by her mother when she realizes she doesn’t have enough extracurriculars, and though angry, annie reunites with bebe. it’s a love story, and just an adorable read with lots of heart and beautiful art.

the plot, overall, was quite simple, and showed annie and bebe growing closer, as well as their antics while cheerleading and training with their team. i loved how this book tackled important issues, such as transphobia, in a serious way, without focusing the entire story on it. i also really appreciated the fat rep!! annie is fat, and there are other teammates who also are, but it’s not shown as an issue or causing any conflict!! i truly have nothing much to complain about with this sweet story.

one thing that did throw me off slightly was the length, as it was very short at 128 pages, and read almost more as a middle grade than a young adult novel. it was nice, and just meant it was a more fast paced read, but i do think they could’ve expanded a bit on the story and developed the plot further.

I’ve had my eye on this book for so long and I’m so happy that the publisher let me read an early copy of the book - thank you so much!

In general, this was a really easy and quick read, with colorful art and an amazing message behind every panel. I think the artist and author did such a good job of getting the story and its themes across both through text and art and it was very coherent all the way through. I liked our main characters, Beebee and Annie; I loved how different they were and how they were able to accept the faults of the other and make peace with themselves through each other. It was kinda a hate-to-love story, which I’m a sucker for, so already from the beginning, it was off to a good start with “Cheer Up!”. I enjoyed the story, a great take on a classic story seen before, but one I’ll never quite get tired of reading.

However: The side characters weren’t really fleshed out as much as I had hoped. I didn’t know any other the names of the people on the team and therefore they felt flat which was a shame. They were just kinda there and didn’t add much to the story, other than being supportive to BeeBee. I especially think that there were some lost opportunities regarding Beebee’s backstory, where a lot of it was told to the reader rather than shown. It would have been nice with some flashbacks depicting past events, particularly Annie and Beebee’s previous friendship and falling out, as well as Beebee’s experiences with Jonah.

The story is quite fast-paced so when it got to the romance between BeeBee and Annie I didn’t really ship them. In my opinion, the time spent on them reconciling their friendship and letting it bloom into a romantic relationship wasn’t enough time for me to be able to ship them. I believe that if there had been some flashbacks depicting their shared past, it would have helped the reader to understand them and their relationship better, instead of just having them vaguely talk about it here and there. With that being said, I do think they make a great couple and that they have great chemistry, but it would have been nice to have it fleshed out a bit more, for the reader to really commit to their love story.

Story-wise, I liked that it incorporated the lives of queer teenagers, without it being about them being queer. Instead, it was a part of their character as they dealt with other issues in their adolescence. Sexuality and gender are of course present themes and the story does comment on the ups and downs that come with being, in Beebee’s case, trans. I think it handled the subject matter really well and made sure to bring in a lot of different aspects of the subject (eg. overprotective parents, transphobia, being able to stand up for oneself, beauty standards, etc.) The themes are expressed through Beebee, but they don’t just relate to the trans community that she represents, but are subjects that every teen out there can somewhat relate to. In that way, the book reaches out to a bigger audience and brings a feeling of being seen to everyone.