By M. T. Bennett From “A Walk to Remember” to “The Fault in Our Stars”, teen romance stories are awash in the cliché of falling in love with someone who has a terminal illness. Author Yoru Sumino and artist Idumi Kirihara (translation by Beni Axia Conrad) give their perspective on it in the manga novel, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas which also has an anime and live-action adaptation. As is often the case, in these kinds of stories a troubled young boy falls for a slowly dying girl. We will call the main character “MC” for this review because… Read More
In Limbo
By Andrew Field Trigger warning: suicide attempted. The amount of pressure teenagers feel to fit in, to meet expectations—academic, familial, social—is a narrative of impossibility and invisibility. For this reason, teenagers are singularly vulnerable in our society and culture. I know I experienced this. I struggled with depression as a teenager in high school, an endless sense that I did not fit in anywhere, that there was something wrong with me. I felt unseen, unheard; and later that depression developed into a mental illness, schizoaffective disorder. Deb JJ Lee’s In Limbo is a book uniquely suited to discuss these issues… Read More
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
By Karol Kovalovich Weaver Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness analyzes the isolation and the loneliness that people in the United States experience. Using personal narrative, academic studies, and the history of technology, author and illustrator Kristen Radtke describes the emotional and physical longing for connection with others. Using thoughtful imagery, Radtke directs the viewer to look at lonely people and guides the reader into lonesome homes. Radtke’s book and its message urging people to connect with one another are timely as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation that accompanied it and as the… Read More
Spotlight: The White Horse
A Tale of Fear and Loneliness by Debra May Silver The White Horse is a unique hand illustrated book that takes you on a powerful, visual journey of dark thoughts, emotions and brings focus to the physical and mental burden of living with anxiety in the modern world. You can acquire The White Horse from her website at www.shipstreetpoetry.com. Debra May Silver self-published her debut collection of poetry “My Rabid Fucking Soul” in 2019 & has since self-published “Rise Up Rabid Souls” an anthology of poetry & art as well as “The White Horse” a graphic novel. She is the founder… Read More
Sleeping While Standing
awaiting review
A Letter to Jo
awaiting review