Welcome to Litsy!

“They all have perfect skin and clothes and talk about sports nonstop. We‘re not the same.”

This book would be great for middle schoolers or students experiencing puberty who can relate to the main character and not feel alone in the struggles of growing up.

Graphica
Published 2021
This book is about a boy in 8th grade who is facing many common struggles. He takes a medication for his acne that makes him feel different, and he struggles with feeling different from his friends. The colors in the pictures are more muted and neutral. The gutters are a little bit larger than in other novels, making the panels seem more separate.

This book is a great coming of age graphic novel that can be used for middle aged students to show they are not alone

“Acne. My mom says I have it now, but I won‘t when I‘m older.”

This graphic novel is about a middle grade child exploring new things about their body as they go through puberty. This story is extremely relatable and very easy to read.

3.5 ⭐The A stands for both acme as well as Ace or asexual. Most of the book deals with an eighth grade Jay that has pretty severe acne. I quite enjoyed this story and watching the character grow up, and discover that they are ace. I even liked their concerns over their acne and how it affected their self-worth. This is something I think many students would feel and understand.

I wanted to love this graphic (almost)memoir about grappling with teenage problems from bullies to acne along with coming to terms with an often unspoken sexuality. I definitely connected with Greene's outsider feelings as an ace kid, but this one didn't hit the way I had hoped. Though, that's likely me expecting too much of the book than an issue with the book itself. It's that problem of the underrepresented reader demanding too much.