HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Graduation: A Time For Change A For Better…
Loading...

Graduation: A Time For Change A For Better Or For Worse Collection (original 2001; edition 2001)

by Lynn Johnston

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1354201,108 (4.28)2
For Better or For Worse's Patterson family has grown and grown up for decades on the comics page. Facing real-life issues with a continuously humorous, often poignant, sometimes sentimental stance, For Better or For Worse delivers storylines that reflect the life moments and family challenges that most people face. In this collection, Graduation: A Time for Change, life is transforming for each family member and their widening circle of friends. Elly and John face middle age and the decision to ask Elly's dad to move in. As Michael graduates from the safe confines of university, Elizabeth begins her college years with a surprising roommate. The pleasures of being the number one kid sometimes escape the often-lonely April. Throw in the engagement of Michael and Deanna and add another dog to liven up the household and you get a lot of laughs and a bit of chaos--just like real life.… (more)
Member:varroa
Title:Graduation: A Time For Change A For Better Or For Worse Collection
Authors:Lynn Johnston
Info:Andrews McMeel Publishing (2001), Paperback, 136 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:humor, comics

Work Information

Graduation: A Time for Change by Lynn Johnston (2001)

None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 2 mentions

Showing 4 of 4
Michael graduates from college. ( )
  IllanoyGal | Aug 2, 2010 |
Everyone has something they like, but can't fully explain why. For me, For Better or for Worse falls into that category. Part of it is the ongoing story lines - unlike many comic strips in which characters exist in a perpetual now and never age or change, the Patterson family grows a year older every year (or at least they used to) and deals with the difficulties of growing up and growing older in addition to the usual family oriented comic strip fare of fighting siblings and frustrated parents. The strips are collected into annual volumes, giving a sort of family album feel.

Graduation - A Time for Change is, as one might expect, focused quite heavily on the changes that confront the Patterson family. As seems to happen in many families, the changes compressed into a single year are dramatic. The focus of most of this volume is Michael, who graduates from college, sees his girlfriend Deanna leave to work in the Honduras (and return), tries to make it on his own in the working world (including a trip to Ireland to write a magazine article), moves to Toronto, and finally asks Deanna to marry him. While Michael's stories are the most obvious, everyone in the Patterson household deals with change: Liz goes away to college, and must deal with the unexpected revelation that her roommate is the quirky Candace. April, having had her older siblings to play with and fight with her entire life has to deal with being the only child in the house. John and Elly have to deal with getting older.

John and Elly also have to deal with Elly's father aging, and they invite him to live with them, a change that will affect the strip for some time to come, as the incredibly close bond he forms with April becomes an important element of the strip. That, however, is mostly in the future. The strip also recalls the past in a touching series in which April and Liz visit Farley's tree to remember their beloved family dog. While not as brilliant as some other strips, For Better or for Worse has a reality amidst its humor that keeps the sentimental scenes of family life from becoming cloying. Having seen the characters grow through the years, the changes they live through in this volume are somewhat disorienting but the fact that you have come to know them so well makes their reactions believable and their love for each other seem real.

I can't explain why I like For Better or for Worse. I simply do. And this volume of the continuing and changing lives of John, Elly, Michael, Liz, and April is no exception. ( )
  StormRaven | Jun 2, 2009 |
Despite having an extensive collection of For Better or For Worse books, I don't know if I can really call myself a fan. In recent years I have been disappointed in the direction the strip has taken and no longer follow it faithfully. With this in mind, I've been keeping an eye out to see if I can discover just when For Better or For Worse headed into the "worse" category. I don't know if I'll get a simple answer to that, but this volume feels like the end of the "better" portion of the series. The big changes in this collection are Mike graduating from college, getting engaged and moving out of his apartment in Mrs. Dingle's house (That's it! Moving away from Mrs. Dingle was where it jumped the shark!), Elizabeth going off to university and Grandpa Jim moving in with John and Elly. No single storyline is that compelling, but they're still an entertaining read.
--J. ( )
  Hamburgerclan | Apr 29, 2008 |
A "For Better or for Worse" collection that is particularly moving and full of passages. Mike visits Weed's house for the first time, and learns a new appreciation of his own loving parents. Mike graduates and Deanna goes off to work in Honduras. Lawrence finally meets his father. Mike and Weed go to Ireland for a contracted story. Just as they get back, Liz goes off to college, and discovers that Candace is her roommate. Deanna accepts Mike's proposal on New Year's Eve, 2000. Mike and Weed move to Toronto. Elly's Dad moves in with them. All in all, a wonderful collection full of changes, grounded by the warm stability that is the Patterson family. ( )
  burnit99 | Feb 2, 2007 |
Showing 4 of 4
no reviews | add a review

Belongs to Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

For Better or For Worse's Patterson family has grown and grown up for decades on the comics page. Facing real-life issues with a continuously humorous, often poignant, sometimes sentimental stance, For Better or For Worse delivers storylines that reflect the life moments and family challenges that most people face. In this collection, Graduation: A Time for Change, life is transforming for each family member and their widening circle of friends. Elly and John face middle age and the decision to ask Elly's dad to move in. As Michael graduates from the safe confines of university, Elizabeth begins her college years with a surprising roommate. The pleasures of being the number one kid sometimes escape the often-lonely April. Throw in the engagement of Michael and Deanna and add another dog to liven up the household and you get a lot of laughs and a bit of chaos--just like real life.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.28)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2
2.5
3 2
3.5
4 6
4.5 1
5 10

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,235,711 books! | Top bar: Always visible