Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland
You are who the other kids say you are.
But I'm not OK with that.
I'll say who I am.
Established author Cynthia L. Copeland’s first graphic novel sparkles with wit and warmth. Twelve-year -old Cindy navigates a tightrope of middle school complexities: shifting alliances among the microcosm of students, moving from platonic relationships to the first stirrings of romantic interest, and a growing awareness of the world beyond junior high school. Divided into the three seasons of the school year, Cub introduces fresh-faced and free-wheeling Cindy entering seventh-grade. An individualist, she's not part of the vicious circle who take pleasure in taunting other students. She copes by appearing "dead," that is invisible and unresponsive to personal attacks. |
Small details highlight the 1970's era: candy buttons attached to paper strips, flared jeans, troll figure collections, memories shown as a scattering of Polaroid snapshots.
Faces are rendered with simple eyes and noses. It's the expressive eyebrows and mouths, especially a mouth full of braces which poignantly reveal emotion.