I approached Ariel Schrag’s Awkward and Definition with a little bit of trepidation. Earlier this year I made the proclamation that I was going to read one graphic novel a week, and since I’m an equally-opportunity reader I went in search of female authors. Since, I’ve already read Persepolis and Fun Home I had to do a little digging. It seems that whenever people mention female graphic novelists, those are the two that get mentioned the most.

In my research I stumbled upon Ariel Schrag’s high school chronicles, the first of which is Awkward and Definition which are sort of a visual journal of Schrag’s freshman and sophomore years in high school. I approached the first book with a bit of trepidation. I’ve read Jeffrey Brown’s autobiographical stuff and found it kind of a drag. I’m happy to report Schrag’s book is not draggy at all. In fact, it’s a lot of fun and kind of charming in the way winsome teenage girls can be when you least expect it.
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