Review:
In this semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Winifred is starting her sophomore year of high school alone - her two best friends from freshman year have both transferred to a private school. Luckily, Winifred reconnects with Tilly, a childhood friend of hers who she grew apart from in junior high, and makes a couple new friends, April and Oscar.
During a sleepover, Winifred, April, and Oscar discover they all have one thing in common: they all secretly hate themselves. They all feel like poor fits for the places in which they've found themselves. April's mom is constantly on her case about the clothes she wears, her father is rude to her friends, and she's struggling with her gender identity and more that she hasn't yet admitted to her friends. Oscar is bisexual, feels like a terrible person because of how things ended with his ex-boyfriend, and is dealing with issues related to his grades and coursework. Winifred, meanwhile, is starting to question her sexuality - she's developing a crush on Oscar, but she also can't stop thinking about a moment when it seemed like Tilly might be interested in her. Unfortunately, Winifred is also dealing with an eating disorder that's gradually getting worse, as well as worries about her weight and how others perceive her.
Winifred discovers that art is a good outlet for her, and she and Oscar, with April's encouragement, produce a comic zine together.
This was a quiet but rough read. In her author's note, Searle writes that this is a fictional story inspired by experiences she had in high school - April and Oscar weren't recreations of real people but rather a combination of meaningful moments and experiences, but Winifred was pretty much the author. Winifred's struggles with loneliness, her worries about how other perceived her, and her anxiety that morphed into an eating disorder all reminded me of how difficult and emotional growing up were and felt very real. The direction Oscar's script for the comic took also had me worrying about the possibility that he was considering suicide, and at one point Winifred is sent to her school's counselor because of concerns that she's self-harming.
A good reminder that growing up is hard, especially for kids who don't quite feel like they fit in with everyone around them and/or are dealing with mental health issues. Art and writing gave these kids an outlet, but it also helped, a lot, that they had at least a few supportive and caring adults around them.
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