LAYERS

Award-winning Parisian artist and graphic novelist Bagieu shares vignettes from her life in this title translated from French.

The opening tale, “Why Don’t You Have a Cat? You Love Cats!” is the strongest, telling the story of a very small Pénélope and her sister’s desperation to have cats of their own, the surprise kittens that appear under the Christmas tree, and the subsequent giddy highs and heartbreaking lows of pet ownership. One especially poignant and humorously told story relates the carefree, passion-filled summer of 1999, right before Bagieu entered university, when she and her equally poorly informed boyfriend received a crash course in safe sex from a compassionate gynecologist. More serious topics—death, sexual assault, and public harassment by predatory men—are interspersed with lighter-hearted tales of struggling with the cold as an exchange student in London, trying to connect with a high school crush who plays in a rock band, and musing on the impact of receiving participation awards as consolation prizes. The stories, which vary dramatically in length and tone, are presented with little analysis or commentary, trusting readers to draw their own conclusions. Overall, they feel like reminiscences filtered through an adult perspective rather than stories written to speak directly to young people currently living through similar experiences. Bagieu’s skillful, digitally rendered art mimics the looseness of pencil sketches and has a whimsical, highly emotionally expressive feeling. Kane’s translation is seamless and natural sounding.

Beautifully illustrated glimpses into a coming-of-age journey.