Selection: Ghost World by Daniel ClowesGenre: Graphic Novel
Annotation: In a world full of freaks and losers, two girls strive to not fit in.
Not all outcasts hate being on the outside. Just ask Enid and her friend Rebecca. This duo definitely owns their angst and approaches the world with a critical lens. Who can blame them? As they drift from day to day after their graduation, the two look for meaning in the world around them. Clowes pulls no punches demonstrating Rebecca and Enid's feelings of alienation. There is a gritty authenticity to the girls' sexual experiences, pranking of strangers, and raw emotional exposure.
Though Ghost World is a story that every young adult reader could relate to, this is not a book I'd nominate for the Printz Award. The thing that turned me off the most to the story would have to be the author's use of profanity and the almost vulgar display of sexuality would not necessarily be appropriate for the average teenage reader. Despite these apparent short-comings, this story provides a somewhat dark and jagged portrayal of life as a teen who doesn't quite fit in the heirarchy of society, but rather lives on the edges (and quite gladly at that).
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