Tuesday, June 10, 2014

“Page by Paige” and “Will & Whit” by Laura Lee Gulledge

Read these two as the author is under consideration for a visit next year.

"Page by Paige” was not what I expected!  Given the cover, I thought “Middle School book” with girl drama.  It’s far more layered and complex than that, with artwork that is ***stunning*** and subtle.  Page is a 15 year-old whose family has just moved from rural Virginia to New York City.  An artist, like her Grandmother, she feels lost, overwhelmed and uninspired.  She finds some “words of wisdom” in her Grandmother’s journal and each piece of advice chronicles a step in her journey outward – a journey towards new goals, new friends, and creativity.  The panels are made up in standard blocks with your basic bubbles, but Gulledge goes further, creating full-page drawings that break out of frame, and clever “commentary” in square boxes or small print that hugely adds to the narrative.  The emotional tone of the artwork is immensely powerful and Grandmother’s advice is not only “right on” but can be applied to life as a whole.  This one was completely satisfying, a new "winner" in graphic novels IMHO, and one I plan on recommending to a great number of folks.

“Will & Whit” is the second effort by Laura Lee Gulledge and was “okay” but didn’t knock my socks off to the same degree.  It is similar in style – a seventeen year-old lives with her cool aunt in Charlottesville, VA, running an antiques shop and hanging out with her quirky friends the summer before Senior Year.  The girl, “Will,” previously lost her parents in a car accident, a subject that should underpin the tale but is only touched on briefly.  The drawings are both clear-cut and subtle, with the main character’s fears appearing as pointillist shadows around her.  Will feels a little un-moored, and the artwork still has layers beyond layers of meaning … but without the structure of Grandma’s notes, the story doesn’t move much.  There is a storm named “Whitney,” old friends, new friends, and a carnival of sorts, but not a lot really happens.  If the point of drama is for a character to face challenges, move forward and grow, then the crux of the story – Will dealing with the loss of her parents, should be predominant.  Instead, I left the book feeling like the entire message was “So you had some loss – time to move on.”  I just didn’t see Will’s struggle with this significant gap in her life being grounded and real.  Having just gone through the loss of a colleague, the emotions felt superficial and glossed over.  Can’t help but feel that the author has, perhaps, not lived through the sudden or unexpected death of a loved one???  I also had issues with two of the characters -- Noel, a friend, and Desmond, a possible love interest – looking so similar I didn’t know who was appearing in the frame until their name was stated by another character.

Maybe lightening only strikes once.  Clearly, “Page by Paige” was something Laura Lee Gulledge was driven to write.  She is also a deeply talented artist.  Whether or not she becomes a strong graphic novelist will depend on how she develops as a story-teller.

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

"So B. It" by Sarah Weeks


Recommended by students for over a year, I finally got around to reading this unusual and touching book.  Heidi is a girl surrounded by mystery.  Found in her mother's arms on the doorstep of a woman with Agoraphobia, she grows up surrounded by Bernadette, a caring eccentric, and her mom, whose limited vocabulary makes it clear that she is mentally challenged.  The problem is that Heidi has questions ... about who she is and where she came from.  The big question of the book is whether answering these questions will bring you happiness.  Told in short chapters, each headed by one of Heidi's mom's words (mom has only 23 words/phrases in her vocabulary), the prose is accessible yet highly lyrical.  Heidi's questions, and some of her answers, are life lessons -- nuggets that you collect along the way -- seeds that will stay with you long after putting the book down.  While this is a good middle school pick, there is a depth to it that transcends age.  I can imagine that anyone reading it would be both surprised and impressed by the tale.  One thing I liked it that it is not "clean."  Everything kind of happens as it should, I guess, and the ending does wrap stuff up, but the issues aren't black and white.  People and events are complex, and that complexity gives the novel shadings that left me wondering about the moral implications -- what is "right" and what is "good."  The book made me think and question.  It was also a joy to read.  You can't ask for better than that.