ashylibrarian's reviews
965 reviews

Puzzled is a graphic memoir that is likely to speak to readers of all ages, but especially younger readers who are experiencing anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and OCD traits. The author takes readers through their journey of self-exploration and discovery of their OCD. While this has the potential to be an extremely heavy topic, the author approaches it in a way that makes it feel accessible while sharing the reality of struggling with mental health. While we all know that mental health journeys don’t look the same person to person, stories like Puzzled are bound to make some readers feel seen and not alone. At the end of the book, Cooke has a scene where he is talking with a therapist about the different ways in which OCD can manifest and how it does not look the same for everyone. This is a book that will hopefully help readers (1) see and understand themselves a bit better, (2) see and understand someone they know, and (3) see the world with a more compassionate lens. 

I know that anthologies can be a hard sell to younger readers, but I think publishers may have found a perfect solution – graphic novel anthologies! While not a new concept entirely, we have been seeing more and more graphic novel anthologies being published. Becoming Who You Are is a great example of what a graphic anthology can look like. Nine authors came together to share their stories about growing up transgender and nonbinary, and they were partnered with comic artists to bring their stories to life. While each section is short, the vibrant and detailed artwork partnered with the text allows the reader to feel immersed in each story and satisfied when it ends. Back matter includes mental health resources as well as LGBTQ+ organizations.  

Did you know that rabbits and guinea pigs will eat their poop to digest its nutrients? How about that a Burmese python could eat a whole deer? What about that the female parakeet will put male parakeets through a singing test before they accept them as a mate? In this quirky, goofy look at the secret lives of pets, readers will learn gross, funny, and fascinating facts about animals that we invite into our home as pets. The sections of this book are broken up by pet type, and each section has between 4 and 6 chapters. There are goofy illustrations supporting the different sections. I thought it was neat that the last chapter shares information about the careers that study each category of pets, like herpetologists who study reptiles and amphibians and cynologists who study dogs! The backmatter includes a bibliography. 

Interesting plot premise but I think it could have been paced and balanced a bit better. The book's first part was intriguing as we learn about the world and the characters. After about halfway, the pacing got messy in that things started to drag on in the middle third of the book and then the ending was so hectic that I lost sight of what I was supposed to be focusing on. Even with a sequel, I still feel the ending could have been fleshed out more.