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.

Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez

Sanchez, A. (2011). Boyfriends with girlfriends. New York: Simon & Schuster.

ISBN-13: 978-1-41693-773-9

Plot Summary

Lance and Allie have been friends for years, as have Sergio and Kimiko. Lance and Sergio meet online and begin a relationship although Lance is relatively new to having gay relationships while Sergio, who is bisexual, has had many different types of relationships. This makes Lance nervous and jealous. Allie is in a heterosexual relationship with Chip and when she meets Kimiko, she wonders what it would be like to kiss her and begins questioning her own sexuality. So she eventually breaks up with Chip to explore this new side of her life.

Sergio’s family is hesitantly accepting of Sergio’s bisexuality while Kimiko’s family struggles with her being a lesbian. Her mother has known since Kimiko was a child that Kimiko liked girls, but when Kimiko finally comes out to her family, her mother doesn’t speak to her for days while her father shows unconditional love. Sergio’s family, on the other hand, seem to welcome all of Sergio’s love interests but favors those with girls.

In the end, these four characters decide what is important to them and who they want to spend their time with.

Critical Evaluation

The four voices of Lance, Sergio, Ally, and Kimiko are clearly heard through this third person narration of four teens struggling with their feelings in new relationships. The dialogue is authentically teen, “Like, yeah!” enabling teen readers to connect with characters who are like them. The romance between the two pairs is realistic and sexual encounters are limited to kissing and groping. A Library Media Connection review comments, “Sanchez does a remarkable job of addressing GLBTQ issues, including the prejudice some gays have for bisexuals. Parents and straight characters in the story are portrayed with believability, and their struggle to understand the teens is realistic” (Jones, 2011). However, School Library Journal notes, “The plotline is too predictable, with most of the characters living in an all-too-perfect-world of acceptance” (Evans, 2011). The theme of struggling with one’s identity is magnified because of that; if it is difficult to realize who you are and find acceptance in a “world of acceptance,” imagine how difficult it must be under ordinary circumstances. Readers will realize the similarities between GLBT and heterosexual relationships, especially feelings of doubt, jealousy, anxiety, and longing.

Evans, B. (2011). Boyfriends with girlfriends. School Library Journal, 57(4), 183-184.

Jones, S. (2011). Boyfriends with Girlfriends. Library Media Connection, 30(1), 74. 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Lance likes Sergio, but Sergio likes Lance and girls. Ally is fascinated with Kimiko, but could this attraction mean something more?

 

Author Information

 

Alex Sanchez was born in Mexico City in April 1957 to German and Cuban parents. When he moved to the United States when he was five, he immediately felt like an outsider. As a child, he always knew he was different, but he did not hear the word, gay, until he was 13 in 1970. His early years were filled with shame for feeling different not only because of the way he looked, but also because of his sexuality. He hated high school, and there he witnessed the terrible beating of another gay student; Sanchez himself did not come out until after high school.

As a counselor working with young people, Sanchez began putting ideas together and realized he was writing the book he wished he could have read when he was a young adult: a book that would’ve told him it’s ok to be who you are. This book’s idea came to him when he was struggling with his own coming out issues, and so we have his first novel, Rainbow Boys, published in 2001. His stories explore different sexual identities and relationships, especially in Latino cultures. They are often, in some part, coming out stories and coming of age stories. Sanchez enjoys being very active in reaching out and providing resources to people struggling with their sexual identity through his website and at school appearances.

For more information about Alex Sanchez, please visit his homepage:

http://www.alexsanchez.com/default.asp

Genre

Young Adult

GLBTQ fiction

Homosexual fiction

Bisexual fiction

Lesbian fiction

Gay fiction

High School

Romance

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Book Talking Ideas

How do you feel at the beginning of a romantic relationship? How are heterosexual relationships and homosexual relationships similar? How do you give romantic advice to your friends?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Characters are high school students; appropriate for grades 9 and up.

Challenge Issues

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual subjects

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Booklist starred 03/01/11

Library Media Connection 08/01/11

Kirkus Review 03/15/11

Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 04/01/11

Why did I include this title?

 

I first read it as part of my author/genre presentation and because it is Alex Sanchez’s newest publication, I wanted to highlight here as well.