Review by Booklist Review
Winifred feels alone at her high school until two kids in her art class--Oscar and April--notice how good she is at drawing. Though she's filled with insecurity, never feeling cool enough or thin enough to be worth the attention, their friendship steadily grows, thanks in large part to the zine they make together, three installments of which are included within. Over the course of the book, Winifred slips further into her depression, enduring disordered eating and self-harm, but she gradually gets help from supportive friends (some in surprising places), her mother, and a therapist. In her crisp, precise art, Searle deftly depicts the emotions of her characters, largely through their expressive body language; Winifred's slumped shoulders as she curls into herself are easily worth a thousand words. Though there are a lot of threads to follow, in Winifred's journey as well as that of her friends, this is a sensitive, compassionate portrayal of teenage mental health struggles that emphasizes the importance of community, self-acceptance, and finding the courage to ask for help.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Searle's semi-autobiographical graphic novel covers teen relationships, mental health, art-making, and disordered eating with crackling specificity. In 2002, Winifred Cunningham is an anxious white 10th grader whose closest friends have recently transferred to other schools. Win, who is self-conscious about eating in front of others, "trick" her body "into forgetting it was hungry by making it sick instead" at night and stays awake worrying. But she soon befriends wealthy, enthusiastic April, cued as white and nonbinary, and poetic, pansexual Oscar, who has brown skin. The three share a love of art and struggle with self-esteem, and they find an outlet by creating a zine, Gutterglimmers, which evolves over the course of the story, conveyed in full issues accompanied by zine-making instructions. With help from her empathic mom, meds, and a guidance counselor, Win eventually takes self-expression from the pages of her zine to real life, and finally reciprocates the overtures of a welcoming friend. Spare illustrations with a limited palette add to a visually and emotionally satisfying read about escaping depression and loneliness through art-making. Ages 14--up. Agent: Jennifer Linnan, Linnan Literary Management. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A young woman is apprehensive about starting the school year after her two closest friends move to a different school. Introverted, talented, and filled with self-doubt, Winifred is the focus of this simply drawn story; uncluttered panels and an appealing, muted color scheme let her introspective narration take center stage. She loves drawing and photography, gets middling grades in some of her classes, and is self-conscious about her weight--to the point that she has begun to eat foods she knows make her sick (she is lactose intolerant) as a sort of self-punishment. Set in the Portland, Maine, area in the early 2000s, the storyline follows Winifred as she makes new friends: She becomes especially close to April, who also has an eating disorder and whose wealthy parents are emotionally absent, and Oscar, who struggles with depression. Winifred and Oscar work together on a zine that is featured in its entirety in four parts. Initially, Winifred thinks she may be interested in Oscar, but she later realizes she is really attracted to a girl named Tilly. Set in an era when landline phones were still in use, the story explores sexuality, mental health, and the messiness that goes with understanding of self in ways that will resonate with contemporary readers. Varied visual perspectives, clean linework, and easy-to-read speech bubbles contribute to the pleasurable reading experience. Winifred and April read as White; Oscar and Tilly have brown skin. A poignant, honest, and deeply engaging work. (Graphic fiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
