"Swallow Me Whole"

It's so rare for me to read something that doesn't feel like a repeat of something I've read before. Growing up as an avid reader, getting my bachelor's degree in English literature, my master's degree in library science, and planning to spend my professional life surrounded by books, I have read a lot. I even tried to pinpoint how many books I've read throughout my life, but I lost track somewhere around 400 (basically, I read A LOT). So it's not unusual for me to finish something and say, "yeah, that reminded me of *insert book title here*." The last time I really read a book that I felt was truly different from the rest was when I discovered Erin Morganstern's incredible debut novel The Night Circus. That is, until my friend and fellow librarian Patrick finally convinced me to read my first graphic novel. Patrick is our library's unofficial graphic novel/comics librarian and one of the masterminds behind the wildly popular Comics Fest in Durham (and author of his own blog: 741.5 and Then Some--gotta love Dewey Decimal jokes!) This year's Comics Fest featured award-winning author and artist Nate Powell and, after a strong recommendation from Patrick, I decided to read his Swallow Me Whole. 

I don't feel comfortable really reviewing this graphic novel because it's the first one I've ever read, and I don't know the first thing about them. However, I can tell you that it was the 2009 Eisner Award winner for Best Graphic Novel, and it was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. And I finished reading it in about 2 hours, which tells you I liked it enough to not put it down until the end. I had trouble when I first started with the text bubbles, (Which order do I read them in? Who is speaking now?) but I got over that quickly enough. I did not grow up reading comics as a child so I'm also not used to paying so much attention to the detail in the art. Once I really got going, though, I really got going. 

Swallow Me Whole is about stepsiblings Perry and Ruth. Perry has the annoying ability to see a tiny, creepy wizard who randomly appears to give him "missions," which often require him to draw for hours. Ruth obsessively collects insects and hears them speak to her at night. While Perry fights his psychological disorder throughout the novel, Ruth succumbs to her illnesses and the reader literally must watch as they overtake her life. Drawn in sharp black and white illustration with surprising emotion, this graphic novel forces readers to deal with the reality of mental illness and the death of loved ones. The words often blend into the background of the illustration so it often appears as though you're watching the story unfold instead of reading it. Powell really seems to know how to capture his audience and tease them with questions of reality. The whole concept of tiny wizards and goddess frogs is funny until the reader is forced upon the realization that those are the character's realities. 

Swallow Me Whole was a great graphic novel to begin with, and I am looking forward to reading more. Please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions for what I should read next!