Blankets by Craig Thompson

I saw this sitting on a featured shelf in the library and thought "That looks pretty. I'll give it a try." And what luck! It turned out to be amazing. I've been through a lot of graphic novels I had no intention of buying in the end, but this one I am definitely adding to my "must be purchased no matter what" list. Also, even though it is a pretty thick book, I got through it in a matter of a few hours. It's like candy you have to keep eating but then you realize you've gotten to the bottom of the box, and then you wish there were more.

This graphic novel is a highly personal autobiography of the author, Craig Thompson, from his childhood to his 20s. The artwork is absolutely magnificent, and if you're interested you should visit his website called Doot Doot Garden, because it too is great. I'd actually stumbled across his website a long time ago without knowing it was the same author of this book, which made for a cool realization once I googled his name.

But back to the book-- I can't praise it enough! I suppose whether or not you'd like it depends on whether or not you like graphic novels, and more specifically graphic novels that are about someone's life and not giant anime robots or Japanese school girls or something. His childhood had some truly saddening moments spattered with a few happy memories here and there. He didn't have the most horrible childhood you can think of but it certainly had it's terrible moments. Despite this, and despite being constantly picked on by his peers, he grew into a shy and sweet adolescent boy full of ideas. He had an ongoing struggle with religion because he grew up in a fundamentalist christian family, but as he grows he begins to find fault in the teachings and cannot bring himself to reveal to his parents that he is no longer religious.

I won't give away the rest of the story because it's very beautiful and real. If you've had a first love then you can tremendously relate to what he feels later on in the book. Read it for the art, or read it for the story-- either way, just read it! It's beautiful.