REVIEW: Button Pusher (graphic novel memoir) by Tyler Page

Button Pusher is Tyler Page's graphic novel memoir of growing up with ADHD. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Tyler Page was an intelligent boy, but he was often hyperactive in class and had a tendency to do things without considering the consequences. His mom initially made a doctor's appointment for him because of some headaches he'd been having, but issues at school turned it into a broader evaluation of Tyler's behavior and family situation. His mom confessed that there were some problems at home - Tyler's father was prone to sudden bouts of anger - so family therapy was proposed. As Tyler's parents tried to talk about and work through their issues, Tyler went to group therapy with other children and was eventually diagnosed with ADD (now referred to as ADHD). He was put on Ritalin and showed some improvement, but his medication still needed occasional adjustment and it was never a miracle cure.

In between scenes from Tyler's childhood, there are brief informational pages about ADHD, what we know about it, some of the benefits and drawbacks of labels, misconceptions about ADHD, and more. The author also briefly touches on ADHD in adults and women and how the way it presents can be very different from the way it presented in him as he was growing up. 

This was an interesting and well laid out graphic memoir. I knew it would deal with the author's ADHD, but the issues with Tyler's parents were unexpected. There were quite a few scenes in which Tyler's father blew up and raged at his kids or, more frequently, his wife. Mostly, it's yelling and screaming as Tyler and his younger brother hole up in their room and try to pretend it isn't happening, but I should mention that there's an instance where it turns physical. It's off-page, but Tyler goes to check on his mother and discovers that his father punched a hole in a wall and his mother has a bruise on her arm.

The author also writes about some of his self-esteem issues as his weight increased, and his worries about his issues with emotional regulation and how it resembled his father's outbursts of anger. By the end of the volume, Tyler has graduated high school and is ready for the next stage of his life. He stops taking Ritalin (without talking to his doctor first) and thinks he's "cured," but the last couple pages indicate there's more to the story. I could see there being a "sequel" memoir, of sorts, in which the author goes into more detail about the effect ADHD had on him as an adult, but this stands on its own well.

Extras:

An author's note, a page of the author's childhood art, and a couple pages about the process of creating this graphic novel.