Maybe An Artist: A Graphic Memoir

Liz Montague has led a relatively interesting life for someone still in her twenties, but this graphic memoir aimed at children breezes past the items that should have been major hooks as it skitters quickly through elementary school, middle school, high school and college.

I was slightly bored as I read through dozens of pages that barely manage to expand on this single sentence from the dustcover:
Here is the story of Liz's childhood, from the age of five through college -- how she navigated life in her predominately white New Jersey town, overcame severe dyslexia through art, excelled as a track star, and found her calling in life (which didn't involve running).

Take the dyslexia, for instance: It barely takes up eight pages -- maybe 15 show more panels in total -- in the book (pp. 24-30), and the word "dyslexia" is not used once. As presented, I'm guessing a child reader might assume Montague just liked to write funny because she's left-handed. She also alludes to a speech impediment in those same pages, but like the dyslexia it apparently gets better quickly with hardly any effort at all.

September 11, racism, and her athletic and art careers zip past in the same shallow manner.

On the plus side, I enjoy Montague's art and reading the book did cause me to visit her website where I found a lot to admire. Her "Liz at Large" strips with the little dog are too sappy for my taste, but "Cyber Black Girl" and her other projects are very exciting. I'm looking forward to her next book: Jackie Ormes Draws The Future.

https://lizatlarge.org/work/
(Be sure to explore everything under the "Work" dropdown in the top menu!) show less

There isn’t a lot of content to this book, but I enjoyed seeing Liz’s journey into pursuing art. I related to a lot of her struggles like, not knowing how to pick a major, figuring out whether to go to art school or not, rarely seeing black people in comics, and being a first-gen college student.

While I wish she would have explored in-depth how the New Yorker opportunity went (or maybe it was that instant), I liked this memoir.

3.5

Liz Montague details her journey from elementary school student to adult, being one of the few Black kids in her suburban town and trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. This is a humorous and thoughtful telling, focused on life's grievances that would make her a successful cartoonist as a young adult. Teen readers will identify with her angst and be uplifted by the hope of everything working out the way it should.

graphic nonfiction - memoir of child who grows up to be a graphic illustrator

not sure who the audience is supposed to be-do middlegraders these days know about 9/11? or MySpace?--but the vocabulary and phrasing definitely suggests teens and older. More like an adult telling the story of their education/career choice with the addition of cartoons than a book geared towards the graphic novel-reading young kids of today. Not outstanding as such, but I liked the positive representation and the questions raised about racism as experienced by middleschoolers, etc.

I’m going to start off this review by saying: I have no idea how to rate graphic novels or comics. It’s something I struggle with every single time I read one, so I rated this 4 stars but I don’t really know what that means.

Maybe an Artist is a cute, enjoyable, and educational autobiography about Liz Montague’s experience coming to terms with who she is and who she wants to be. Reading the books takes you through her experiences of personal conflict regarding her personal identity, both as a Black woman in the US and as a student struggling to figure out what her career/educational goals should be.

This book has a very strong message about what it means to accept and explore your passions despite external pressures to do show more otherwise. The fact that it’s illustrated and told through the use of comics makes it, in my opinion, more accessible and enjoyable for younger audiences for whom this book is likely intended. However, I think the story told through these pages is sure to speak to many readers, of all ages and backgrounds.

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Crossposted on my blog.

For a list of warnings, tropes, and representation for this book, check out its page on BookTriggerWarnings.com.

Thank you TBR Beyond Tours and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary book in exchange for an honest review. show less

A book about graphic novels and/or comics or a creator of graphic novels and/or comics
Maybe An Artist, A Graphic Memoir
Montague, Liz
I really enjoyed this memoir about a black women comic creator and her experience growing up a white community and sruggling to make her art.
Random House Studio (2022), 176 pages

LizAtLarge taught me how a “thinking in pictures” mind works. Sweet, salty through line.