Little Fish: A Memoir

ARC provided by NetGalley

Ramsey Beyer is 18 years old and about to leave her small town life to become an independent big city college freshman. And she wants to share her story. In Little Fish, Ramsey share's with her us her first hand thoughts of tackling the new challenges that face her in the big city and growing up away from the friends and family she's known all of her life. Told through Ramsey's journals, collages, lists, and drawings she shares with he her transformation in the time before her move up to the end of her first year of college, in this great autobiographical tale.

Even though some of the drawings were done within the last couple of years, everything was based upon what she wrote in her journal. Ramsey even shares show more some of the actual pages from her journal, the lists that she created of things that she wanted to do or would miss while moving away from everyone that she knows. This is a great first hand account of what it's like to leave everything that you know and get out into the real world. It's awkward at times, especially as Ramsey navigates dating for the first time, but why wouldn't it be? She captures everything that we as readers have felt at some point or another in our lifetime.

This is such a great way to put together and share a story. Drawings that have an innocence about them, pages from real life journal, type written lists, crumpled pages creating backgrounds...it has it all. There's a lot of visual interests to keep the reader going back for more to see what they missed the first time around, but never feeling overwhelmed by what's there. The one thing that I'm not sure about, and that maybe because it's an egalley, is that there isn't any color anywhere in the book and that's a bit disappointing because just a touch of color in a few places would add some nice contrast. Barring that though, I love looking through this book.

This is a perfect book to give to those heading off to college the first time and for those of us that haven't been in college for a while. It's a nice reminder of what it was like to leave home for that first time. I highly recommend this book and I give it 4 out of 5 stars. show less

Ramsey Beyer lives in the city and has for the past ten years. But until she was 18, she lived in a tiny town called Paw Paw. This is the story of her first years away from home at art school and how she dealt with feeling like a "little fish".

In zines, lists, blog entries, and comic strips, she records her life from her first tentative arrival at art school in Baltimore to her second year and a firm relationship.

I've seen a lot of graphic memoirs of 20-somethings and my general feelings are um...mostly unprintable, but generally fall into the "what makes your angst so interesting?" However, I will admit that this book held my attention and I can actually see older teens and young adults checking it out.

One of the things that made me show more actually like this comic was that Beyer is not as self-absorbed and oblivious to the rest of the world as most authors/artists in this genre I've read. She lists at one point the things she's been fortunate in having - a family that's financially well-off and supportive of her, her school, good friends, and opportunities. Her journey to figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life is very balanced. She realizes there are things she misses about small-town life and someday she'll go back to it, but she also loves the excitement and opportunities in the city. She thinks a lot about how people change - not just her friends and family back home and the way she sees the world, but even her new friends as they start relationships and make choices.

The art is very zine-like, if you know what I mean. It's black and white and I don't see anything saying the final book will be in color, so I'm assuming that what I see is what we'll get. There are lots of cut paper backgrounds and the comic panels have a sketchy, doodling look to them. Most of the text, especially the many, many lists, is in a kind of old-fashioned type-writer font. This wasn't to my taste, as it made it difficult for me to read and I was distracted by the many typos - were they part of the "authenticity" of the art, or just because I read an uncorrected proof? Some of the story is repetitive, particularly the introduction of her roommates and friends but then later in the story new names are suddenly dropped in and I couldn't figure out who those people were.

Verdict: This wasn't 100% to my personal taste, but I enjoyed the realistic and pretty balanced look at a kid from a small town going to the big city for the first time and growing into an adult. I think quite a few teens at this point in their lives, especially those in a small town planning on going to bigger cities for college, might enjoy reading this. It's not going to fly off the shelves like Twilight, but it should have a pretty steady audience and I'd recommend it for your teen collection.
[updated to add: I gave this to my teen aide, who is going to college this fall and she really liked it. I also got a finished copy of the book for review and yes, it is in black and white but the finished art has a cleaner, more striking look and while it still has the zine-ey look, the book as a whole is more polished and some of the repetitive parts and typos were cleaned up. So, finished copy, very cool!]

ISBN: 9781936976188; Published September 3, 2013 by Zest Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; ARC provided by the publisher for review; Added to the library's order list show less

I loved this charming graphic novel memoir about Ramsey's transition for high school to art school. I think many students can relate to the challenges and benefits of living away from home and the changes that occur as a result.

Ramsey is off to art school to pursue her dreams - of being an artist, but also of getting out of her small town life. She so wanted to see what the world could offer outside of the friends she had known since she was born and the town where she knew everyone. At first, Ramsey is so unsure of herself; she doesn't feel like she fits in with the "city" kids, and she is lost in a college which is bigger than her hometown. But then she starts to make some friends, learn the ropes, and come into her own as she finds her identity away from her familiar life. Little fish is Ramsey's memoir of her freshman year of college; she tells her story through comics and lists, something she is obsessed with creating. The book represents the transition show more from high school to college, from small town to big city, from being comfortable to having to create a whole new identity. Ramsey's story is one everybody can relate to, whether they go to college or not; it is a story about going out on your own and finding your way. show less

Loved it! Interesting format using animation, journaling, and lists. True reflection of girl from small, Midwestern town wanting to experience big city college life in art school. Explores her feelings of making new friends, missing old ones, family, a first boyfriend, and expanding her world. Quickly goes through a year and the many changes that take place while developing the characters in a real way.

Little Fish: A Memoir from a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer is a hybrid memoir, zine, and graphic novel format account of her first year at art school in Baltimore. Originally from Paw Paw, Michigan, Ramsey felt like a little fish in a big sea.

Ramsey Beyer's memoir reminds me of two of my other favorite graphic novel format memoirs: Doodlebug by Karen Romano Young and Smile by Raina Tegemeier.

The memoir covers all the bases of the big move to college: the excitement mixed with apprehension moving into a dorm (one very similar to what I stayed in during my first year), and to those roommates and first friends. For anyone who has made a huge move in life or is contemplating one, I recommend this book with enthusiasm.

This book reminded me a lot of when I first started college, but there wasn't much of a story, mostly just lists. It reminds me of my own journals from when I was younger, which are infinitely more interesting to me than they would be to anyone else, and that is how I felt at points in this book; like I was just looking through someone else's journal.