Laura Lee Gulledge

4.5 stars. Loved it (though not quite as much as [b:Page by Paige|8928004|Page by Paige|Laura Lee Gulledge|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1287612691s/8928004.jpg|13804487]).

"Will & Whit" is not a love story, though the cover sort of tricks you into thinking it might be. Though, I guess in a way, it is a love story, but not one of romantic love. More about the love with share with our family and friends and how it supports us.

The story is about Will, short for Wilhelmina. It's show more the summer before her senior year of high school, so she has the worries and stress that goes along with knowing that that part of her life will be coming to an end soon. She leads us through her day to day life, introduces us to her close group of friends, and talks to us about her hobby of building lamps from random artifacts. She confesses she is "afraid of the dark" but you know immediately, by the way the shadows loom behind her, that there is more to this statement than a simple childhood fear. Something happened to Will, something painful that she doesn't even want the reader to know about. Then the storm hits

What I love about Laura Lee Gulledge is that she knows how to use the graphic novel format to its fullest, not just illustrating her story, but by layering each panel with meaning and using the artwork to progress the story. It doesn't hurt that her style is just gorgeous and very accessible. You can tell the characters apart, even in black & white. You can interpret their feelings as they smile and smirk and frown.

At first I thought black & white was an odd choice, especially when Will describes the dyed color of her aunt's hair and how her best friend is obsessed with blue. But when the big storm comes and knocks out the power, leaving Will surrounded by shadows, the grayscale of the page is more powerful than a full-color page with muted tones would have been.

While it doesn't quite reach the level of awesome of [b:Page by Paige|8928004|Page by Paige|Laura Lee Gulledge|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1287612691s/8928004.jpg|13804487], this is another enjoyable read for teens and adults that is a fine example of the graphic novel format and the potential for a different kind of storytelling hidden within. show less

This is the first graphic novel that moved me to tears. Mona uses her journaling and art to grapple with her dark matter, the depression and dark thoughts that she carries with her. She's in therapy, has supportive parents, and treats figuring herself out as a project. As she finds ways to break through or coexist with the dark, yellow is introduced into the pages of the graphic. Largely introspective and personal, this graphic novel explores Mona's path to self discover but also introduces show more the notion of Artner (partners in art) as a path to connection, community, and mental health. show less

Summary: Paige's family has just moved from Charlottesville, VA, to New York City. Paige misses the greenness and open spaces of her home, but most of all, she misses her best friend, the only person who has ever really understood her. Paige is an artist, so she pours her heart into her sketchbook. And when school starts, she finds friends she likes, and that seem to like her, but they don't really know the real Paige. But how can they, when the real Paige only comes out on the pages of the show more sketchbook that no one is allowed to see?

Review: My graphic novels have been all feeling a little same-y recently. This is absolutely because my local branch of the library only stocks the YA graphic novels (adult ones are elsewhere), so my random browsing picks are limited for choice. But despite the fact that this book is very similar to some others I've read recently (Peanut, Friends With Boys), I enjoyed it quite a bit. The "girl starts new school and tries to find where she fits in" plot was obviously nothing new, and Page by Paige even had the "secret public art" angle of Plain Janes, but this book stood out in two ways. The first is that it takes on the concept of trusting someone enough to open up and show them the real you more directly than some of the others I've read, which is a great message, and still something I struggle with, even though I'm twice the age of these stories' protagonists. The real way that this book stands out, however, is in the artwork. There's a bit of meta-ness about it all, that Paige is drawing about her life and her feelings in her sketchbook, which is presumably what we're reading (especially considering Gulledge *also* moved from VA to NYC), but that aspect of things was kept nicely subtle. The artwork is all black and white, but it really vividly gives a feeling for what it's like to be in Paige's head, playing with panel structure and layout and swapping between various styles, all as appropriate. It's lovely and honest and fits the story perfectly. As I said, the story is not the most original one ever, but in this case, the creative and beautiful way in which this story is told makes this book something more than the typical fare. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: If the sub-genre (or maybe sub-sub-genre?) of "new kid in school" books is your cup of tea, then Page by Paige is definitely worth checking out. show less

A well-intentioned book about a teenager dealing with depression and anxiety that just fell flat for me. It's good to share these types of stories with young readers and the author includes a lot of good information and strategies for self-care. Unfortunately, it suffers in comparison to the more engaging Guts by Raina Telgemeier which I read recently and covers much of the same ground.

Also, there were several negative aspects that threw me out of the story. First, there is some show more queerbaiting. Second, for people whose depression and/or anxiety can result in hypochondria or be intertwined with hard to define and treat conditions like irritable bowel or chronic fatigue syndromes, there may be resentment or frantic internet searches when the main character's mental recovery coincides with surgery for a rare bowel obstruction that she is suddenly discovered to have. This particular development is based on the author's real life experience but its inclusion seems to undercut the message of the rest of the book about having to put in hard work on a daily basis. Third, the coined word "artner" is used constantly and bugged me more and more every time it appeared. show less