It's a wonderfully observed portrait of finding one's place in your world. Her digitally colored ink cartooning pulls substantial emotion out of everyday moments (such as Hale retreating to a playground shrub to cry, only to find another girl already there, doing the same) and the imagination-fueled games Hale was forever devising, presaging her writing career. The carefully honed narration and dialogue give Pham plenty of room to work. Hale makes her own flaws evident, and that fairness extends to the bullies in her life, who lash out brutally at times, but whose insecurities and sadness are just as clear. My mom says that's all anyone really needs"), negotiates forever-changing friendship politics, and tries to stay on the good side of her turbulent oldest sister. The creators of Real Friends Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are back with a true story about popularity, first crushes, and finding your own path in the graphic novel, Best Friends. Over five chapters, readers follow a bookish and shy Hale from her earliest days in school through fifth grade, as she zealously guards her first friendship ("One good friend. Told through the genuine and honest eyes of Shannon Hales young alter-ego, the new graphic memoir picks up where Real Friends leaves off, with the same heartfelt illustration. Hale's childhood struggles with friends and family come to achingly poignant life in this candid graphic memoir.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |