Nuanced and real; impressive and valuable.
Illustrator Egbert has drawn on tumultuous childhood memories to craft his first solo graphic novel.
Looking back, Corey wonders how much of his childhood was real. His family, who present white, lived in a remote, rural part of California, so his mom was his “teacher…entertainer…and partner in crime.” His dad, though loving, was more distant. Shortly after Corey’s younger sister, Sarah, was born, his maternal grandfather was arrested for child sexual abuse. A couple of years later, Corey’s parents divorced, and his mom, convinced his dad was also a predator, enlisted Corey to be his sister’s protector during court-ordered visitations. Clinging to the family’s shared faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his mom became increasingly paranoid, eventually loading both kids into the car and taking off. Hungry, filthy, and afraid, the teenage Corey received a nighttime visitation from an ethereal girl who helped repair his fractured heart. The author’s note (which includes family photos) fills in background details, including more about his mother’s paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis. The emotional truth of this narrative rings out on every page. The artwork enhances readers’ understanding of Corey’s confusion about religion, sexuality, family dynamics, and his own memories, drawing the audience toward sympathy and understanding. Egbert’s softly illustrated panels are primarily executed in muted tones of peach, gray, and brown with clean, uncluttered backgrounds; this soothing palette subtly and skillfully supports the depth of emotion in the story.
Nuanced and real; impressive and valuable. (Graphic memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780374308421
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression.
In 1983 South Korea, Kim was learning to navigate university and student political activism.
The daughter of modest restaurant owners, Kim was apolitical—she just wanted to make her parents proud and be worthy of her tuition expenses. Following an administrator’s advice to avoid trouble and pursue extracurriculars, she joined a folk dance team where she met a fellow student who invited her into a banned book club. Kim was fearful at first, but her thirst for knowledge soon won out. As she learned the truth of her country’s oppressive fascist political environment, Kim became closer to the other book club members while the authorities grew increasingly desperate to identify and punish student dissidents. The kinetic manhwa drawing style skillfully captures the personal and political history of this eye-opening memoir. The disturbing elements of political corruption and loss of human rights are lightened by moving depictions of sweet, funny moments between friends as well as deft political maneuvering by Kim herself when she was eventually questioned by authorities. The art and dialogue complement each other as they express the tension that Kim and her friends felt as they tried to balance school, family, and romance with surviving in a dangerous political environment. References to fake news and a divisive government make this particularly timely; the only thing missing is a list for further reading.
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945820-42-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way.
Navigating high school is hard enough, let alone when your parents are CIA spies.
In this graphic memoir, U.S. citizen Glock shares the remarkable story of a childhood spent moving from country to country; abiding by strange, secretive rules; and the mystery of her parents’ occupations. By the time she reaches high school in an unspecified Central American nation—the sixth country she’s lived in—she’s begun to feel the weight of isolation and secrecy. After stealing a peek at a letter home to her parents from her older sister, who is attending college in the States, the pieces begin to fall into place. Normal teenage exploration and risk-taking, such as sneaking out to parties and flirtations with boys, feel different when you live and go to school behind locked gates and kidnapping is a real risk. This story, which was vetted by the CIA, follows the author from childhood to her eventual return to a home country that in many ways feels foreign. It considers the emotional impact of familial secrets and growing up between cultures. The soft illustrations in a palette of grays and peaches lend a nostalgic air, and Glock’s expressive faces speak volumes. This is a quiet, contemplative story that will leave readers yearning to know more and wondering what intriguing details were, of necessity, edited out. Glock and many classmates at her American school read as White; other characters are Central American locals.
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way. (Graphic memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45898-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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