Just Roll With It is a graphic novel by Veronia Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie that follows the story of Maggie, a middle schooler full of both imagination… and worry. She finds friendship and adventure through the school’s TTRPG club, and she navigates a face off with an inner dragon of her own.

*Note on spoilers: I talk about events that happen in the book so families and facilitators can evaluate for their kid’s reading material. This does mean there are spoilers in this post!

Jump to:

• What is Just Roll With It all about?
• Who would Just Roll With It be great for?
• How Just Roll With It handles mental health
• Our favorite parts of Just Roll With It
• Overall thoughts on Just Roll With It
• Find a copy of Just Roll With It

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What is Just Roll With It all about?

Just Roll With It is about Maggie, a new middle schooler and youngest in her family, who is faced with everything from getting used to a new environment to meeting expections and standards set by her siblings to rumors of a monster lurking about the school!

Throughout all this, Maggie LOVES playing TTRPGs with her family, and it becomes a great point of connection with others at school as well. However, she also uses her d20 from the game to roll for what she should do when she can’t decide, and it has some impacts that her family begins to notice.

It’s a great story full of both adventure and meaningful experiences about handling worries, getting help, and be true to yourself.

Who would Just Roll With It be great for?

Just Roll With It is particularly great for middle school kids, but it can be an awesome read for others as well. I read this with my kiddo (6yo) who loved it, and I found meaning in the discussions on mental health elements as well, so don’t let the fact that it is geared at middle school kids stop anyone from reading it. If you love TTRPGs or are curious about the impacts they can have, if you have anxiety or get decision paralysis, or if you just enjoy reading graphic novels, this is for you.

How Just Roll With It handles mental health

Throughout Just Roll With It, Maggie is dealing with a lot of stress, and it manifests in ways that I think a lot of kids (and adults) experience but don’t really talk about a whole lot. Maggie has some habits (like flicking the lights or rolling her die for making decisions) that her siblings and parents notice and talk to her about. She has a pretty normal reaction for a middle schooler, insisting that nothing is wrong and she doesn’t need help, but… she also starts to really see it and the impact over time.

A pretty common experience for folks who end up being diagnosed or going to therapy (myself included) is this whole process of rejecting, questioning, researching, and having this realization before really being able to face whatever it is that’s going on… and this book goes through within a frame that’s accessible to kids. I think this is really important to feel seen and to also have an example of how reaching out for help, getting support from or supporting a friend, or approaching your situation with openess can work out and be OK. And it connects it directly to themes in TTRPGs (which can also REALLY help provide another tangible frame), like talking to the dragon instead of trying to just kill it.

Our favorite parts of Just Roll With It

Kiddo’s favorite part of Just Roll With It was when there was kind of a triple face off at the end! Within a short span, Maggie faced their TTRPG session’s end, the middle school’s monster, and her own dragon. For kiddo, this was really exciting because these plots had all happened side-by-side, so there were three stories all hitting their climax at the same time! Kiddo though this was REALLY cool and was able to connect how they were similar when I asked if they maybe meant the same things… and I could see that realization hit and amp the excitment up. We had a great conversation there.

For my favorite part, I liked how the discussions around OCD, anxiety, etc were handled and how it approached treatment. I have some neruospicy brain that I deal with, and I remember that going to my first therapy session, as an adult, and not having names for things was very difficult. This particular plotline finished with a chat about focusing on what helps versus what labels to assign with a therapist who explained the process, what they could talk about, etc, and it fit in the story. I thought it was handled really well and can help a lot of readers come to terms with their own internal workings.

Overall thoughts on Just Roll With It

We loved this – it’s a great story that teaches and connects with the reader AND it is beautifully illustrated. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat, and we’re keeping our eye out for if there’s ever a sequel. We’re happy to have read Just Roll With It, and I hope you get to check it out as well!

Find a copy of Just Roll With It

You can find a copy of Just Roll With It at your local bookstore or through here via bookshop.org!

Looking for more TTRPG and D&D themed books? Check out my list of “TTRPG and D&D themed chapter books and graphic novels”!

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