SQUISHED

A young girl struggles to find her own space among her many siblings.

Eleven-year-old Avery Annie Lee is one of seven children in a family living in a small, bucolic town in Maryland. Avery loves art; her two BFFs, Dani and Cameron; and the annual end-of-summer fair. After the latest embarrassing incident, this one involving her toddler brother at fifth grade graduation, Avery is tormented with adolescent agita: Her large family makes her endlessly self-conscious and irritated, leaving her yearning for a room of her own and the coveted solitude it would afford her. When she learns from her older brother that her parents are considering uprooting the family and moving to Oregon, Avery is thrown. This sophomore stand-alone graphic novel from Lloyd and Nutter, whose earlier collaboration brought readers Allergic (2021), is another absolute delight. Lloyd’s carefully nuanced characters feel all too real and are masterfully brought to life by Nutter’s stylish, full-color art. The dynamics among the Lee family members are adroitly rendered, down to the littlest exchanges; in one brief scene, Mr. Lee brings the kids to the skating rink, and another dad asks if all the kids are his as the scene cuts to a close-up of a visually deflated and obviously embarrassed Avery. Those who relish the tales of Raina Telgemeier, Jennifer L. Holm, and Kayla Miller will be utterly captivated. The Lees are implied Korean American; Dani is White, and Cameron is Black.

A charming and achingly relatable snapshot of life in a big family.