FEELING LIKE AN ADHD ALIEN

Kiki is an ordinary teen who enjoys making art and spending time with her closest friends, Joyce and Imani.

She’s curious, enthusiastic, and caring—but she also struggles with aspects of her daily life, like completing tasks, remembering things, managing time, summoning motivation, and regulating her emotions. A web search for her symptoms leads her to wonder whether she has ADHD. The idea is new and intimidating, but it could finally help Kiki reframe her life and question what normal really means. In addition to anecdotes that demonstrate how the problems her ADHD causes affect Kiki’s relationships, schoolwork, and happiness, German debut author Varnel, who initially explored her own ADHD struggles through her “ADHD Alien” webcomic, uses creative analogies and imagery to break down Kiki’s symptoms. For example, Kiki’s uncontrollable emotions are visualized as adorable little cats that rapidly grow too large, and her time blindness manifests as a landscape of broken clocks. These creative ways of presenting neurodivergence, as well as art that leans deeply into candy colors and hyperstylized cuteness, are endearing. Kiki and her friends communicate in contrived ways to make informative points about living with ADHD and supporting a friend who has it, and the book is most valuable for the newly diagnosed and those who care about them. Kiki and Joyce present white, and Kiki has tiny antennae. Imani reads Black.

Instructive and visually adorable.