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. She never knows which TV shows are cool, what songs to listen to, and who she's allowed to talk to. But the rules are always changing, and Shannon has to scramble to keep up. 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. Shannon's got a sure spot in the in-crowd called The Group, and her best friend is their leader, Jen, the most popular girl in school. 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. 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. Hale's childhood struggles with friends and family come to achingly poignant life in this candid graphic memoir.
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