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Skim

By Mariko Tamaki
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Skim follows Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a self-styled Wiccan goth navigating the challenges of a private girls' school in Toronto. When a classmate's boyfriend commits suicide amidst rumours about his sexuality, the school plunges into mourning, fracturing social circles and intensifying adolescent tensions. Amidst this turmoil, Skim forms a secret bond with her English teacher, Ms Archer, experiencing first love and deep confusion. As Ms Archer suddenly departs, Skim turns to her journal to process her feelings, face isolation, and reconsider her friendships. The graphic novel poignantly captures teenage struggles with depression, identity, and belonging through a blend of evocative storytelling and artwork.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$5000

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This literary graphic novel is ideal for teen readers and young adults interested in nuanced explorations of high school life, mental health, and sexual identity. It also suits educators seeking texts aligned with Common Core standards for analysing visual storytelling and character development.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Skim was chosen by the New York Times Book Review as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008.

Skim is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth stuck in a private girls' school in Toronto. When a classmate's boyfriend kills himself due to rumours of being gay, the school enters a period of intense mourning, with each clique searching for something to hold on to and believe in. It's a strange time to fall in love, but that's high school, and it's precisely what happens to Skim when she begins to meet secretly with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But when Ms. Archer suddenly leaves, Skim finds herself struggling to cope with confusion and isolation, armed with her trusty journal and a desire to shed old friendships while cautiously exploring new ones.

Depression, love, sexual identity, crushes, and manipulative peers—teen life in all its dramatic complexities is explored in this touching, pitch-perfect, literary graphic masterpiece. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki brilliantly collaborate in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being sixteen.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7

Analyse how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6

Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780888999641

Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd ,Canada

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 April 2010

Country: Canada

Imprint: Groundwood Books Ltd ,Canada

Illustration: B&W illustrations throughout

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 9.0mm

Width: 174.0mm

Height: 255.0mm

Weight: 297g

Pages: 144

Collections

Adult Graphic Novels Fiction Graphic Novels Mariko Tamaki Young Adult

About the Author

MARIKO TAMAKI is a Canadian writer of comics and prose. She is the co-creator with Jillian Tamaki of Skim and of Caldecott and Printz Honor book This One Summer. Mariko also writes about superheroes for Marvel and DC Comics. She lives in Oakland, California. JILLIAN TAMAKI is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator whose art has appeared in comics, picture books and even storyboards for the popular TV show Adventure Time. She has written and illustrated the picture books Our Little Kitchen, winner of the Eisner Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among other honours, and They Say Blue, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She is a co-creator with her cousin, Mariko Tamaki, of the YA graphic novels This One Summer and Skim. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

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