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Lucille

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Medical and potential trigger issues: eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, sexual assault, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), alcoholism, mental health, suicide, death, grief   Review by Alison Kent Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme is a startlingly beautiful book that starts out with a young woman walking through the woods. Her cellphone goes off; it’s her mother. She lies, saying she didn’t take a detour home from school. The woods are her only apparent solace. Socially awkward and full of self-doubt, it quickly becomes apparent that she is also seriously anorexic. Her solitary sexual explorations fill her with more self-loathing than relief. She is… Read More

How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual

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Guest Review by Maren Kyle   How to be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess is a charmingly illustrated coming-of-age story about being asexual and learning about what that meant for the author as they grew up and began to navigate platonic and romantic relationships. Each chapter tells part of the author’s story, from high school through young adulthood, and then ends with an infographic or vignette that covers terminology, pride flags, pop culture representation, and microaggressions. For example, early on Burgess defines asexuality (Ace for short) as “having a lack of sexual attraction.”  There is… Read More

Creepy, Joy of Quitting, My Begging Chart

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Book Review by Kevin Wolf   Creepy by Lee Sensenbrenner and Keiler Roberts is creepy. I won’t give much away about this graphic novella, except to write if taken seriously, then medically it includes cartilage amputation, obsessive compulsive eating disorder (my diagnosis, though not a diagnostician), and child abuse; but it’s really an allegory against digital device obsession whose protagonist looks a lot like Keiler Roberts’ cartoon avatar and it’s a horror story for children. It’s short, pithy, and, did I mention, creepy?   Keiler Roberts’ The Joy of Quitting is a very honest, bare (sometimes naked) portrayal of her… Read More

Charisma Check: A Review of Just Roll with It by Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie

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Guest Review by A. David Lewis   Like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) itself, Just Roll with It by Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie does not reveal itself immediately. The YA graphic novel betrays nothing on its cover, with its summary blurb, or for the first sixty-plus pages of the story. With no overt initial comment, the narrative follows sixth-grader Maggie as she navigates the new challenges of middle school. Her two older sisters had been exemplary students in their time, so Maggie feels the additional burden to excel in addition to her anxiety with friends, classes, and after-school clubs. She is… Read More

The Hospital Suite

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Book Review by Kevin Wolf     John Porcellino, in his memoir The Hospital Suite, is medically troubled. His difficulties are primarily physical, though when the physical problems ease mental health comes to the fore. And I’m sure many argue that mental health often has physical roots, especially when treated with medications. The Hospital Suite is a non-standard case study of the ailments and treatments of one person. Why do I use the word “non-standard?” Unlike The Hospital Suite, standard case studies are not written by the person under treatment, but usually written by the treating professional. John provides amazing… Read More