SOMETHING WAS GROWING ON MY FACE. A look in the mirror did not help me see it, but I could feel it if I pressed the skin in the middle of my forehead. I did not have to wait long before it made its presence known on my face; I had a pimple. Not wanting to go into details because I was so traumatized at an early age, let me just say it looked like a snow-capped mountain surrounded by a red colored moat. I was horrified, right smack in the middle of my forehead. Every day I had to go to school with this mark on my face, I was anxious throughout the day, worried about what anyone would say about it, let alone the snide comments. It was not like it was the only thing going on at the time. There was the issue about my voice cracking and the fact that I was one of the first boys to suddenly grow facial hair. Though, I thought it would be cool if I could get a five o’clock shadow on my face. What I was not expecting was that growing hair on my body meant I needed to use deodorant. There were so many changes going on with me, I was a walking bundle of nerves.      AS THE TIME PASSED AND MY beard developed further, another cruel trick was in store for me. Not only did I have to deal with teenage acne, but the hair growing over the lower half of my face was coming in thick, coarse, and curly that would spiral around and go back into my face, causing these red welts to pop up all over my neck. I tried shaving the hairs as soon as I could see them, but there were so many, coming in so fast, that there was no way I could keep up. It was decided I should go to a skin doctor for help. At my appointment, the doctor determined these reddish welts were flat warts and created a schedule where I would have to come in bi-monthly to have them burnt off. So now I had the joy of going to school with these dark red scabs on my neck where the doctor had used a cauterizing needle to burn off the warts. The only good thing and I mean only good thing was I was excused from PE swimming. This lasted a few months until I was told to switch to a straight razor and was able to get a closer shave. Imagine how I must have felt when in college the doctor I saw told me they were never warts, just in-grown hairs. I must tell you adolescence was tough which is why I could understand what the main character was going through in this animated, adventure comedy.      WHEN A YOUNG GIRL BEGINS HER teenage years, she is hit with a whole new set of emotions that interfere with not only her ice hockey dreams, but with her life. With Amy Poehler (Wine Country, The House) voicing Joy, Maya Hawke (Do Revenge, Stranger Things-TV) voicing Anxiety, Kensington Tallman (Summer Camp, Home Sweet Rome!) voicing Riley, Liza Lapira (21, The Equalizer-TV) voicing Disgust and Tony Hale (Quiz Lady, Woman of the Hour) voicing Fear; this sequel lived up to the first movie. I thought the script was well done, doing a beautiful job of conveying the angst teenagers go through in a touching and comical way, as the cast certainly did their part in making that happen. The animation was just like the previous film, very imaginative, and I thought the pacing kept things moving along nicely. This was a fun movie watching experience, in a crowded theater, that brought back memories for me. There was an extra scene during the ending credits.

3 ½ stars