Litsy

Blankets: An Illustrated Novel | Craig Thompson

pick

3/5 ⭐️
Beside the religious aspect of the book, I liked the book. It was touching and sad. A good book for teenagers or a bookclub.

10 likes

psalva

Blankets: An Illustrated Novel | Craig Thompson

so-so

Let me begin by saying I really appreciated this story being told. It‘s a perspective that I‘ve never seen in a graphic narrative, that of a boy growing into young adulthood and navigating his faith, all while dealing with abuse, bullying, and essentially a rather traumatic childhood. It‘s a vital story, however painful it is at times, one that I can see a lot of people connecting with, particularly those navigating their own conflict of faith. ⬇️

psalva In fact, I could see much of myself and my strict Catholic upbringing in the story. In addition, the epilogue, in which Thompson reflects back on his experience of romance, a main arc of the narrative, and his childhood, was stellar. I found his reflections and his changed perspective immensely valuable ⬇️ 3mo

psalva Nonetheless, I had some problems with this. There were a few panels which aged poorly, namely those relating to Raina‘s sister. Even ignoring these, I found the confessional nature of the narrative a bit uncomfortable, particularly because, due to the nature of the story being one-sided, we don‘t know what becomes of Raina‘s family. Now, this is reasonable I realize. An autobiographical narrative can‘t be omniscient of everyone‘s ending ⬇️ 3mo

psalva Still, it just made me too uncomfortable not knowing whether Raina was okay. There is just a lot of unresolved pain throughout. And it‘s fair to note the humanness of that, and also the value of seeing these stories. It was just not a story that I enjoyed experiencing. ⬇️ 3mo

psalva In the end, I‘m glad I read it. I can appreciate it, but I will most likely not be revisiting it. 13/100 for this list: https://www.npr.org/2017/07/12/533862948/lets-get-graphic-100-favorite-comics-an... 3mo

20 likes4 comments

TheLudicReader

Seventeenth Summer | Maureen Daly

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It's a toss up which book, this one or The Outsiders, is the first work of YA. This one was written when Daly was still in college and published in 1942. Although I found it slow moving, I also found it full of wistful nostalgia. Anyone who has ever fallen in love as a teen will likely recognize themselves in Angie. The themes are universal.

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mlowe386221

The Cupcake Diaries: Alexis and the Perfect Recipe | Coco Simon

I would use this book as an introduction to chapter books for young readers.

ItsAri14 I live this series and so eager to read it ! 1mo

1 comment

Read4life

Eleanor and Park | Rainbow Rowell

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I absolutely love this book. It definitely had me on an emotional ride.

#BookSpinBingo #readyourTBR #TBRtarot

CBee, TheAromaofBooks

CBee I loved this! 4mo

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 4mo

54 likes2 comments

bibliothecarivs

Blankets: An Illustrated Novel | Craig Thompson

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Blankets was banned in all Utah K-12 schools in August, 2024. I feel so strongly about intellectual freedom that I'm going to share some very personal insights. Warning: tough topics ahead.

'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.'
- James Baldwin, As Much Truth As One Can Bear

⬇️

bibliothecarivs Growing up male, straight, white, middle-class, and as a member of Utah's predominant faith, I had many privileges. But during my late teen years in the late 1990s, conflict erupted in my home, where I was the oldest of five kids. Amidst a miasma of mental illness, grief, abuse, and distrust, I often clashed with my parents about religion and values. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs Not everything about my life was awful, and I found solace in music, girlfriends, and libraries, but the toxic environment was bad enough that it eventually led to me being a homeless, nearly friendless, suicidal school dropout within six months of turning eighteen. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs Unbeknownst to me, around that same time, a young artist named Craig Thompson was processing his painful rural midwest adolescence into a new graphic novel. As he was finishing the book, I was beginning to heal after marrying my smart, patient, and strong partner, Amy. ⬇️ 4mo

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bibliothecarivs I got my first library job, we started having kids, and I went back to school. Blankets was published in 2003, earning acclaim and a bunch of awards and I read it in 2012, after it was recommended by my good friend, Shawn. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs Seeing something like my own experience portrayed in such a beautiful and moving way between the covers of a book was at first overwhelming and then profoundly comforting. I was reminded of the positive potency of creative expression, and visual storytelling in particular. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs I learned that Thompson went through a lot and yet survived to make a constructive contribution to society. Most importantly, I understood that I was not alone in my experiences, and that fact gave me power and empathy. I wish Blankets had been available for me to read as a teenager. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs Of course, the story of my teen years is not unique. Perhaps you experienced something similar. From everything I know, teens in my community are experiencing it right now. But without Blankets and other such stories on their high school library's shelves, that same source of power and empathy isn't available to those teens unless they somehow know to seek it elsewhere (I hope they find this review and then find Blankets another way). ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs Life-long learning and exploring the reality of our world are core values for me. Truthfully, that's what led me to non-fiction librarianship and Humanism. I'm upset that some people are seeking to infantilise anyone who's not an adult by banning books that include human experiences that make them personally uncomfortable. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs In my opinion, restricting professional educators and librarians to presenting an overly sanitised/idealised/ultimately untruthful view of life and then hoping minors will be prepared on their high school graduation day or their eighteenth birthday to handle the real adult world is a foolhardy plan. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs All kids should have the opportunity to access developmentally-appropriate literature/news/art/research/instruction/conversations that can, step by step, help them place their experiences into context and prepare them for the future. No system will ever be perfect, but I believe this is a noble goal to try for. That's one of the main reasons we have public schools and public libraries. ⬇️ 4mo

bibliothecarivs It's been twelve years and Blankets is still yielding power and empathy to me and many others. Let's #UniteAgainstBookBans and #LetUtahRead.

- September, 2024 🔚 4mo

Ruthiella Can public libraries still shelve the books? I read Forever as a preteen. I turned out ok. It in no way encouraged me to have premarital sex, but it did help demystify the concept of sex when I had no one I could ask. Children are smarter and more resilient than the average adult realizes, I think. 4mo

bibliothecarivs @Ruthiella Yes, so far, our public libraries are not affected by this ban. But who knows what the future holds? 4mo

Bookwomble Thank you for sharing some of your story ❤️🤗 4mo

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DebinHawaii

Forever . . . | Judy Blume

#SchoolSpirit

I have fond #Memories of sneaking these two books & passing them about in Junior High in the early 80s. 🤫There were others of course but these were the big two at my school. I recently reread Flowers in the Attic & did a Litsy buddy read of Forever about 6 years ago.

Did you have a favorite book you weren‘t supposed to be reading that you passed around in school?

Eggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

bookandbedandtea Yes to both of these at that same time! And what a blast from the past! I can almost smell chalk and the new carpet in my 8th grade homeroom. 4mo

TheBookgeekFrau Flowers in the Attic for me! lol VC Andrews, it seems, was good for turning our generation into readers!! So many people on here have stories of sneaking this book 😂 4mo

dabbe The one girl in our 6th grade class passed around FOREVER; she had highlighted all of the (ahem) juicy parts! #rememberralph 🤣🤣🤣 4mo

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Eggs Great choices! (edited) 4mo

Leftcoastzen Love Story 4mo

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks These two! 4mo

54 likes6 comments

rachaich

Eleanor and Park | Rainbow Rowell

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I've not really read any YA before. This kept flashing into my peripheral so I gave it a go. Sweet teenage love, the yuckiness of school, siblings and parents. And the despicable step father, the sad mother and poor Eleanor.
I liked the way Rowell keeps it real, not letting it become sickly sweet at all. Good ending:)

Texreader Such a good book!! 5mo

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