Booklist Review
- 03.24.10
- posted by Tracy
Review in 4/15 Booklist (booklist is published by the American Library Association)
White tells a compelling and highly textured story (based on her own experiences) of learning to adjust to psychotherapy and bulimia in this graphic-novel story of small, angry 17-year-old high-school graduate Stacy Black. In addition to seeing Stacy’s world—confined mostly to the residential psychiatric hospital where she is a patient—from her viewpoint, we are provided with accounts by four of her friends: one from childhood, a second from boarding school, another from her recent life before therapy, and the fourth from a fellow patient. Flat black-and-white images are highly expressive of Stacy’s emotions, and the dense text panels and word balloons offer both background and cadence for the narrative. Dedicated graphic-novel readers may need to slow down to absorb the tiny print, but this is nonetheless an excellent crossover title for readers searching for an authentic account of psychotherapy, bulimia, and dealing with weighty physical and emotional issues. — Francisca Goldsmith EndFragment