Synopsis
Genre: YA Graphic Memoir
Publishing date: October 4th, 2022
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
Rep: Black
A heartfelt and funny graphic novel memoir from one of the first Black female cartoonists to be published in the New Yorker, when she was just 22 years old.
When Liz Montague was a senior in college, she wrote to the New Yorker, asking them why they didn’t publish more inclusive comics. The New Yorker wrote back asking if she could recommend any. She responded: yes, me.
Those initial cartoons in the New Yorker led to this memoir of Liz’s youth, from the age of five through college–how she navigated life in her predominantly white New Jersey town, overcame severe dyslexia through art, and found the confidence to pursue her passion. Funny and poignant, Liz captures the age-old adolescent questions of “who am I?” and “what do I want to be?” with pitch-perfect clarity and insight.
This brilliant, laugh-out-loud graphic memoir offers a fresh perspective on life and social issues and proves that you don’t need to be a dead white man to find success in art.
Review
“I had no desire to bully people or be mean, but being so aware was exhausting”
Liz Montague is pictured to be staring at a blank sheet of paper trying hard to use her imagination to create something from nothing. Haer artistic talent is overshadowed by self-doubt. When her mother nudges her to remember her purpose, she’s devoid of thoughts. To seek an answer to the looming question, she takes a trip down memory lane.
As a child studying at Goldfinch elementary school, she was inquisitive, asking questions that would render her peers and teachers at loss for words. Slowly, she began to notice that she wrote in illegible handwriting, and spoke in a different manner that was indecipherable to others. But Liz found her calling in art. Her inquisitive behaviour prompted Liz to choose journalism as a career option. She began questioning anything and everything under the sun.
Documenting her journey as an inquisitive middle grader, reclusive teenager and an aware adult, this book questions the privileges of the white people and raises a voice for a less represented section of society. Poignant, funny, and relatable at parts, this memoir urges young minds to work on their strengths and brush aside their weakness. The journalistic art resembled comic strips in newspapers.
About the Author
Liz Montague is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator whose work focuses on the intersection of self and social awareness. She began contributing to the New Yorker in 2019 as a cartoonist and has illustrated for the U.S. Open, Food Network, Google, and the Joe Biden presidential campaign. She’s been profiled by the Washington Post, ABC News, and Today, among other media outlets. Liz is the creator of the popular Liz at Large cartoon series, which previously ran in Washington City Paper, and is passionate about documenting social change and protest movements. This is her first book for children.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
The remaining tour schedule can be found at –
The Thought Scribbler's Blog 
Pingback: Book Review: Maybe an Artist, by Elizabeth Montague | See Sadie Read