Author: Laura Lee Gullege
ISBN: 9781613121511
Publisher: Abrams
Copyright date: September 1st, 2011
Readers Annotation: Paige is new to New York City. This gives her a chance to re-evaluate who she is and who she wants to become.
Plot Summary:
Paige moves from a small town to New York City. She misses her friends and is sad about leaving the life she has always known. Despite the feelings of loss, she is determined to make positive changes. The first thing she does, is buy a sketch book where she will draw every day to hone her artistic skills. Starting a new school, Paige feels like an outsider, but luckily an artistic group of teens notice something in Paige and take her under their wing. Paige is particularly drawn to Gabe, a quiet and sensitive writer. They connect on an emotional level. The group wander New York City preforming meaningful acts of art, using the city as their backdrop. Paige details her thoughts about her new life in her sketch book and slowly, starts to trust the people around her. With this trust, she finally shares her personal art.
Critical Evaluation:
With a graphic novel, a story must be clear, and the pictures must help guide the story. Gulledge is an artist as well as an author. You can see in the image below that she understands the artistic process and how to take a passion and make it art. She instills this virtue in her character Paige and it is seen within the pages of Paige’s sketch book. This image of Paige’s thoughts swirling in her mind and her ability to take them and put them on the page is exactly what Gulledge has done. The artwork is unique and symbolic of Paige’s innermost feelings. Sometimes the sketches are of people, and others, like this one, are more abstract and symbolic.
Paige’s story is not driven by an action-packed plot. It is the simple linear story of a girl who moves to the big city, finds her way, and finds love. It’s not new. However, Gulledge’s artistic take creates a highly relatable character in Paige. Kirkus reviews writes, “Paige’s sketches are soft and expressive, and Gulledge does an admirable job of providing insight into Paige’s musings, creating a very intimate ambiance for this well-fleshed-out character.” Paige might not be a super hero or turn into animals, but she is real. Her thoughts, fears and passions are those that children’s, teens and even adults can relate to.
Author Information:
Laura Lee Gulledge is an author and illustrator currently living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She’s the creator of the young adult graphic novels (aka: comics) Page by Paige and Will & Whit. Laura Lee’s new interactive book Sketchbook Dares invites you to try out her favorite drawing activities, which will be coming out in Spring 2018 thru Abrams Books. She’s currently working on a new YA graphic novel as well as adapting Will & Whit into an innovative DIY musical and after school program with her team of Artners. (aka: collaborators) Laura Lee is also a passionate teacher, guest speaker, and creative consultant with an MA in Art Education who has spread her love of visual storytelling and Artnership across a dozen states. Locally she is an Associate Member of the McGuffey Art Center. She posts new art and adventures weekly in her blog.
-From the authors website which can be visited here.
Genre: Graphic novel/Realistic Fiction
Curriculum Ties: Coming of Age
Book Talk Ideas:
Reading Level/Interest Age: 13 and up
Challenge issues: This book was innocent and sweet. It was one of the few books where I found no challengable content.
Why did you pick this for your collection?
I was interested in how graphic novel were viewed through an eBook viewer. At the time, this book was the only one available thorough OverDrive, so I checked it out. I was instantly drawn to Paige as a fellow introvert and while her story is simplistic, I did feel drawn into the artwork. I felt if a young artist was reading this graphic novel, they might feel courageous enough to share their own work. I even wanted to start drawing more myself. I also learned that with E-books you can double tap on certain panels to read them up close to see details. This knowledge makes me more apt to purchase graphic novels in the form of an E-book.
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