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4.0 

A First Time for Everything

By Dan Santat
A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

*Winner of the 2023 National Book Award for Young People's Literature*

A middle grade graphic memoir based on bestselling author and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's awkward middle school years and the trip to Europe that changed his life.

Dan's always been a good kid. The kind of kid who listens to his teachers, helps his mom with grocery shopping, and stays out of trouble. But being a good kid doesn't stop him from being bullied and feeling like he's invisible, which is why Dan has low expectations when his parents send him on a class trip to Europe.

At first, he's right. He's stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, and he doesn't know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, a series of first experiences begin to change him—first Fanta, first fondue, first time stealing a bike from German punk rockers... and first love.

Funny, heartwarming, and poignant, A First Time for Everything is a feel-good coming-of-age memoir based on New York Times bestselling author and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat's awkward middle school years. It celebrates a time that is universally challenging for many of us, but also life-changing as well.

Praise for After the Fall

“The author gives wings to both his protagonist and his message about the importance of getting back up after a fall and the realization that recovering from a trauma takes time.” —Booklist, starred review

Santat’s precise illustrations and sensitive text combine for more emotional depth than the typical nursery rhyme remix. A terrific redemptive read-aloud for storytime and classroom sharing.” —School Library Journal, starred review

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13 Reviews

4.0
“I had the incredible pleasure of meeting Dan Santat at An Unlikely Story where he spoke about this book on its release day. Not bragging, just stating facts. We also bonded briefly over our shared love of another boom of his (After the Fall) as he was signing my copy of A First Time for Everything. It definitely probably possibly boosted my overall experience/enjoyment, but whatever. Get over it. This is a wonderful story that, like many of Santat’s works, will provide a strong emotional response and warm comforting feeling to adult readers as well as the younger readers (middle-to-high-school in the case of this particular graphic novel) who choose to pick it up. The art and prose interwork seamlessly to give you a fully immersive experience of shared nostalgia that plucks at the strings of your own past all while allowing you a spectator’s view of Dan’s. As Jeff Kinney said at the talk (name drop number two!!!) it’s almost unfair to be able to read through something so quickly (a couple hours read) that obviously took an incredible amount of work and care to put together. But its all worth it in the end. Did I mention I met Dan?”
“3.5 stars”

About Dan Santat

Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal–winning and New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend and the road trip/time travel adventure Are We There Yet? His artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels, including Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series. Dan lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and many, many pets.

Other books by Dan Santat

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