Graphic Novel 3

Mariko Tamaki's Skim, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, tells the story of Kimberly Keiko Cameron who is nicknamed Skim by her classmates because she isn't slim. Skim wants to be a Wiccan and dresses like a Goth, so when a suicide awareness group forms at her high school they assume she must be depressed and in need of an intervention. Nothing could be further from the truth. Skim is confused and questioning but she is resilient and high spirited.

Skim finds she is growing further and further apart from her best friend, Lisa Soor, and feels like there are few people in her world who comprehend her point of view. Free spriited Ms. Archer, who teaches English and Drama, really connects with Skim on a deeper level, which causes Skim to think about her sexuality.

The book deals with first loves and heartaches (gay and straight) as well as suicide, popularity and cliques while remaining hopeful about the power of human connection to help us through it all. Highly recommended for ages 14-18.

The details: Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. Skim. Toronto: Groundwood, 2008.

Graphic Novel 2

"You're getting on my nerves, Aya, university is for men, not girls." "And I'll find a rich husband to take care of me?" "Right. In fact, we're having supper with my boss, I want you to meet his son."

Marguerite Abouet's Aya tells the story of three teen girls living in a working class suburb in the Ivory Coast, in Africa, during 1978. The artwork is beautifully rendered by Clément Oubrerie. The book illustrates the vibrancy and joie de vivre of the culture. As the publisher states, "[this is] an Africa we rarely see-spirited, hopeful and resilient."

Aya is a 19 year old girl who wants to be a doctor and has little interest in the aggressive men she meets. She is a strong independent woman with a good head on her shoulders but she is also caring and does what she can to support her friends, Adjoua and Bintou, who would rather dance than study.

Aya examines social problems including the class divide, teen pregnancy, abuse and the role of women while remaining light hearted, funny and thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended for people ages 15-18. Some mature themes.

The details: Abouet, Marguerite and Clément Oubrerie. Aya. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007.

Historical Fiction

I'd like to tell them that my father's name was Shipu, that he was a great moose hunter and great fisherman, a friend to the animals, the wind, the sun, the trees and the water. I want to tell them that my name is Nipishish, and that I'm his son. That I decided to come here to become educated, to be free, and that I'm ready to do whatever it takes to rebuild my life, leave the miserable reserve, forget the damned residential school.

There are so many things I'd like to tell them, but the words won't come out. I don't know who I am anymore. Larivière? Nipishish? Métis?

Michel Noël's Good for Nothing tells the story of how 15-year-old Nipishish grows to become a man in northern Québec in the 1960s. Nipishish has managed to escape the abusive residential school system and returned to his ancestral home, only to discover the Canadian government has decided to build white people's homes on the land. Watching the poorly thought out reserve decimate the spirits of his community, he decides he must escape to the city.

The Government decrees Nipishish attend school in Mont-Laurier, an all-white town, and live with foster parents there. Deciding this wll be his chance at freedom, Nipishish agrees and begins school in the community. However, there is no place where he really fits in and after much pain and anguish Nipishish discovers he must return to his roots and uncover the mystery surrounding his father's death.

Good for Nothing tells the story of a neglected period in our history from the point of view of people who seldom get to talk about their experience of it. The book has something for everyone: politics, romance, mystery and should make people reconsider what they think about Canada's residential system and the reality of racism in this country. Recommended reading for men and women ages 15 and up.

The details: Noël, Michel. Good for Nothing. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2004.

Realistic Fiction

Clearly, these Blondes, my Blondes, were a whole lot more complicated then they looked.

When I began reading Teresa Toten's Me:) and the Blondes I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into but, it proved me wrong. Funny enough, that's exactly the point of the book.

Pink cover. Smiley face. One lunch bag representing what it means to be different in a school full of bland boring similarities. I thought this would be your stereotypical, run-of-the-mill, Mean Girls-esque tale about a young woman who's gone to a million different schools and figures out the "rules" of becoming popular (i.e. attach yourself to the blondes). At first Sophie Kandinsky feels this way but as she gets to know the blondes she discovers they are not, in fact, interchangeable pod people. They all have dramas equal to her own, including bulimia and a secret family history. Sophie comes to understand how everyone struggles just as hard to get by.

Sophie has not had an easy go of it. It’s the 1970s, she is Bulgarian-Canadian and her father has been wrongly imprisoned. Her mother, an obvious immigrant (her accent is rendered phonetically by Sophie in the book) , attempts to live her life as a single parent and wife of a convicted felon. Sophia watches her mother fall to pieces after each weekly call from her father and somehow has to make a go of it at school while holding everything together at home, working a part-time job at Mike's soda fountain, playing varsity basketball and trying to avoid letting the truth about her life seep into the high school rumour mill.

The book examines the ways we hide behind secrets but also how we can overcome these barrier by forming open and trusting bonds with others. Me:) and the Blondes is a coming of age story replete with all the awkward girl moments: first make out, first tampon, embarassing parents, the rules of slow dancing. Toten's book is recommended for 12-16 year old girls encountering the same sorts of firsts. It will make you laugh but it will also make you think and that's always a good combination (for dating or reading).

The details: Toten, Teresa. Me and the Blondes. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2006.