Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Tamaki, M. (2008). Skim. Illustrations by Jillian Tamaki. Toronto, Ontario. Groundwood Books.

ISBN-13: 978-0-88899-753-1

Plot Summary

Asian-American Kim is called Skim by her friends because she’s not. Skim attends an all girls private school and is not part of the “in crowd.” She and her only real friend, Lisa, explore Wiccan goth culture, consult tarot cards, and smoke outside school. When their classmate Katie is suddenly dumped by her boyfriend and then kills himself, the entire school mourns and wonders about his true sexual orientation. Counselors arrive and the popular girls start a Girls Celebrate Life! club. Skim sinks into depression as she appears to the others as someone to be concerned about. She develops a close relationship with her eccentric English teacher, Ms. Archer, and is devastated when Ms. Archer unexpectedly leaves school to teach at another. After Lisa persuades Skim to attend the school dance, which is a fundraiser for a service for depressed people, Katie and Skim become better friends as Skim begins to see Katie in a new light. Her friendship with Lisa changes when Lisa begins dating a boy from another school, and as a result, Skim learns about the many forms of love.

Critical Evaluation

Skim is a graphic novel and is written in first-person narration, often in a diary-type format, from the point of view of the main character, Skim. The diary entries, internal narration, and dialogue are seamlessly woven together and give the characters a realistic voice that is self-aware and often deprecatingly humorous. The setting of an all girls private school is significant because it magnifies the relationships they have with each other and brings attention to how Skim stands out: she is not thin like many of the other girls and it is evident in the graphic drawings. The pen line drawings are expressive and add dimension to the characters and setting. They are often in contrast with the narration and the effect can be ironic. The illustrations and narration work together to bring the characters and story to life with all the confusion of a teen-age girl’s thoughts. The last full-page illustration is especially significant. Two small pullouts show Skim walking away. These illustrations are laid on top and to the left of the larger image of a dark and tangled wooded area. There is a theme here; life only gets more complicated as you go on. Readers will also appreciate and connect with all the confusion of being a young adult.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Kim, a.k.a. “Skim,” goes to an all-girls high school where a classmate’s ex-boyfriend commits suicide, throwing the entire school into grief overdrive. Skim must navigate through depression, Wicca, friendship, crushes, and sexual orientation and learns that everything you do leaves a mark on other people.

Author Information

 

Mariko Tamaki is a performer and writer in Toronto. She has appeared on stage with a variety of troupes including PPPO (Pretty, Porky, and Pissed Off), which was founded in 1997 and lasted eight years. The women of PPPO performed productions of stories about large women with large attitude; “Move it Fatty” and “Wide Side Story” are some of their plays. Members of the troupe still enjoy occasional guest appearances and performances. Tamaki has also starred in a solo production of her graphic novel, Skim, in which she herself played the main character.

Tamaki is also a columnist for two Toronto magazines as well as a graduate student of Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto. There, she also studies language, performance, and gender. Her humor shines through her webpage as she lists things she thinks are fantastic including dinner parties, music with a good beat, and documentaries about people growing older.

More information about Mariko Tamaki can be found on her website, where you can also contact her:

http://www.marikotamaki.com/

Genre

Young adult

Graphic novel

Alternate format

Coming of age

Suicide

High School

Depression

Friendship

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Book Talking Ideas

How does a school react when something tragic happens?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Appropriate for ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues

Language, homosexuality

Challenge Defense

If it were challenged, I would consult ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

I would also cite these reviews:

Book Links (A.L.A.) 01/01/10

New York Times 11/09/08

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred 05/01/08

Publishers Weekly 02/04/08

Horn Book 10/01/08

Wilson's Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book starred 07/01/08

Wilson's Senior High School 06/01/10

Why did I include this title?

I haven’t read very many graphic novels, and after doing a little research, I sought out this book. I’m glad I did. The illustrations make the text so poignant and meaningful. I remember in particular one scene where Katie “smiles the smallest smile on the planet” and in the illustration, you can just make it out. The subject matter is handled with layers of humor, honesty, and depth that seems only possible with the illustrations. I am hooked and I look forward to reading more graphic novels.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Hopkins, E. (2004). Crank. New York. Simon Pulse.

ISBN-13: 978-1-41699-513-5

Plot Summary

Kristina is sixteen years old, gets straight A’s, and has a comfortable home, but her life is turned upside down when she is court-ordered to leave Reno, Nevada and visit her estranged father in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She hasn’t seen him in eight years. In Albuquerque, Kristina meets Adam who introduces her to things she’s never known: love and crystal meth. She’s not Kristina anymore, though; she has left that life behind her and calls herself Bree. Bree becomes addicted to the highs she feels when held by the grips of the monster (what she calls crank, or meth) and the lust she feels for Adam. This new side of her resents and hates Kristina’s monotonous life when she returns to Reno, and she gets caught up in the downward spiral addiction creates. Two new boys enter her life, but one is bad and rapes her while the other is good and loves her. Pregnancy forces her to make a decision that changes her life. Now 17, she tries to leave the monster behind.

Critical Evaluation

The first thing the reader sees upon opening the book is how it’s written; the book is written in verse instead of prose. The free verse style is an example of poetic form following function: the arrangement of the words into lines and stanzas, changing on each page, reflect the disjointed, broken life Kristina/Bree is living. It allows for her fragmented thoughts that flow through this first-person narration. Often, the lines will create a concrete poem in which the words and lines are arranged in such a way that suggest the topic or subject of the poem. For example, the poem “Home Sweet Home” is actually shaped as a house. Another example is the poem “Paydirt!” when she discusses losing her virginity. The shape of the poem is a giant “V” and it represents what a big deal it is to Kristina. In poetry, every word is thoughtfully planned so the reader is left to focus on what is there and the result, in this case, is the complete control the monster has on Kristina. Plus, despite the ugliness of the drug, there are moments of artful word choice as in the alliteration this line creates: “I wanted to walk with the monster” (231). One purpose of alliteration is to make the words stand out and its affect here is that nothing else is as important as the drug. Also, many poems can be read more than one way with lines on two sides of the page. Perhaps this creates a confused effect, which might represent Kristina’s mind. Perhaps this represents the two sides of the character. Furthermore, referring to the drug with the metaphor of a monster gives the drug a life of its own with negative, frightening connotations. The ending is left hopeful with new life and patience, but the conflict Kristina/Bree has with the monster is not resolved.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Kristina has everything going for her in Reno until she visits her estranged father in Albuquerque, and everything changes. The monster has its grip on her and Kristina (or is it Bree?) struggles with this new life it has created.

 

Author Information

 

The Ellen Hopkins website’s homepage has two choices: adult and young adult. http://www.ellenhopkins.com/

 

Ellen Hopkins is a freelance writer, a poet, and an award-winning author of nonfiction books and novels in verse. Hopkins has published numerous articles about topics ranging from child abuse to winemaking. Born in Long Beach, CA on March 26, 1955, she was adopted by an older couple and grew up in Palm Springs. Her father was a self-made millionaire, and from him Hopkins learned the value of hard work. From her mother, she developed a love of reading and even began reading chapter books before kindergarten. This nurturing environment of her childhood helped Ellen Hopkins become the writer she is today.

 

Despite her comfortable upbringing, Ellen Hopkins experienced much personal hardship in her life. Two relationships ended; one in divorce and another resulted in the kidnap of her daughter for three years. Then, in 1991, she married her John Hopkins, whom she calls her forever love and best friend. They moved to northern Nevada in 1990, and it is there she began writing for a living. Crank is based loosely on her own daughter’s experience with crystal meth. The baby at the end, named “Hunter,” is her grandson Orion, born in 1996. They took guardianship of him and then adopted him when he was almost four.

 

Ellen Hopkins enjoys speaking at schools and libraries, and encourages her readers to contact her via email and blog posts. She also offers tips to help writers. Ellen Hopkins is more than happy to sign and personalize bookplates as well.

Genre

Young adult

Poetry

Alternate format

Drugs

Rape

Teen pregnancy

Curriculum Ties

Forms of poetry and figurative language

Book Talking Ideas

Different kinds of drugs, addiction, handling stress

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Appropriate for ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues

Sex, drugs, rape, sex, language, teen pregnancy

Challenge Defense

If it were challenged, I would consult ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

I would also cite these reviews:

Booklist 11/15/04

Publishers Weekly 11/01/04

Kirkus Review 10/01/04

School Library Journal 11/01/04

Kliatt 09/01/04

Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 02/01/05

Why did I include this title?

I read this book in a day. It exhausted me. Kristina/Bree had a hold on me like the monster had on her. It made me wonder how many people I might know who are struggling with an addiction and how it makes them change. It’s a book that will terrify you. It shows how incredibly damaging drugs are and how they can ruin your life.