GROWING PANGS

Rising sixth grader Katie is different from other kids, what with her freckles, being home-schooled, and the worries constantly buzzing in her head.

Katie is excited to start the summer at her first sleep-away camp with Kacey, her best friend from her home-school co-op. However, as she gets closer to Delaney, a cool, self-assured girl at Camp Aldridge, Kacey becomes distant and resentful. Traversing the beginning of middle school and her evolving relationships and mental health just makes the buzzing in Katie’s head get louder and more persistent. Ormsbee captures the nuances of friendships and the feelings of loneliness a person can experience from being singled out as different. Stereotypes surrounding home schooling are also addressed. The graphic novel unfolds over the course of a year, and the representation is informed by the author’s and illustrator’s own childhood journeys of coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is explored in accurate detail throughout Katie’s arc, and the illustrations enhance the depiction, with bees flying around her head whose buzzing increases and decreases in intensity to match the franticness of her thoughts. The varied panels and dynamic, colorful art maintain visual interest. Katie and other main characters read as White; the supporting cast is racially diverse.

A poignant account of journeying through life while navigating mental health and friendships.