An amusing autobiographical(?) take on a girl's childhood. In graphic novel form. ( )

In my dreams of teenage trauma prophylaxis Kathleen Hanna hands me Pussy Whipped and this book as a 13 year old, before I lose my virginity. Avenue D is playing in the background: "Shit, you know they all just want to hit it./They're just talking shit 'cos they want it," which, although nobody will prank call my house at 3am to call me a slut for a couple years, is a revelation that rings true.I come out of adolescence unscathed. ( )

The book contains 17 stories relating to her life, family relationships, boyfriends, school and neighbors. The stories are honest, poignant and sometimes painful.

I really enjoyed the creative and quirky drawings in this book. It reminded of how much I enjoyed drawing as a kid (before
I cared what other people thought of my drawings). ( )

This comic books is a set of 17 vignettes, stories of events, feelings, or people that seem to haunt the author. Each story is self contained, and the author's age hops about a bit, but reading them together builds a picture of her life.

The art is wonderful, bright and vibrant, and each section is introduced by a richly texture mixed media display - in one case, including a photograph of some child's beloved toy that she found at an airport.

There is a section at the end showing instructions for using an ink stone and Japanese brush to paint your own demon.

I'd give this to people interested in art, in biography, in touching stories. ( )

Reading this is like therapy, except it doesn't cost you as much. Including the stone, ink and brush from Popular book store, the whole 'programme' cost me less than $15. Since then I've been exorcising the demons lurking on the fringes of my consciousness - ex-boyfriends, regret, sloth, materialism. When you take hold of the brush and let the images flow, it's amazingly cathartic.