Adults are severely weird.That's what we relearn from the comic novel Escape from Special. The author Miss Lasko-Gross sensitively leads the readers back to their childhoods, into the confusing, funny, or scary situations that life imposes upon children.
The book accompanies Melissa’s growing up from the age of six to the end of middle school with Hippie parents. Her parents take her from public school and send her to a more progressive “Waldor school,” which, to me, was especially interesting because I, too, spent two years at a
Melissa is a non-conformist, which, although honorable, brings her frequently into trouble and makes her lonely. She finds an outlet of her anger in comic writing, where she verbally throws up her problems onto paper.
Escape from Special is an amusing, charming read. It probably gives students pleasure, it also teaches about the stereotypes in the wave of progressive education and hippies, and of course, it teaches about the pros and cons of conformity. However, adults might be better able to relate to the time it takes place than teens.
Lasko-Gross exposes the big picture of Melissa’s story of growing up in tiny, humorous glimpses, which are little entities in themselves. Because of this feature, it is a great story to be read in the bathroom, instead of the classroom. I'm not being sarcastic. I enjoyed reading it, and now, my husband is reading it as well, in small bites, while sitting on the potty.
Although I was somewhat disturbed by the darkness and unattractiveness of the pictures at first, I learned to like them as they draw a parallel to the main character. Like Melissa, the pictures are idiosyncratic and non-conforming. They are honest, not shaved.
4 comments:
what would someone expect to learn from this book. all i really see is description yet i still dont really know what it is about or what to expect. were you left with the same feeling?
I love your description of how Melissa uses her comic writing as an outlet for her anger. "She throws up her problems onto paper." I think many YA's can relate to that.
The illustrations in the graphic novel I read did not capture my interest. They were bleak and that was the tone of the novel.
You shared how the character used her interest in comics to deal with her situation. Today the psychologist at my school inserviced us on resiliency in children. I guess this could be an area to address with YA.
I laughed out loud at the opening line of your post Mirja. Good hook!
Unusual also in that you include details (no too graphic-thank you) about your husband reading this in the bathroom. Interesting way to appeal to readers.
I would like to have read more about why "adults are severely weird" and also what made the pictures dark and unattractive. Was it what was portrayed in the pictures or the coloring of them?
Post a Comment