Skim

Skim words by Mariko Tamaki, drawings by Jillian Tamaki

Wow... a downer, with a little hope at the end. Excellent portrayal of a teenage girls thoughts and feelings about stuff.

"All day today I was rubber. My eyes felt like bathtub plugs. I tried to take up as little space as possible. Everyone is watching me."

"I'm like an alien every time I sit at my desk. I don't even know if I'm supposed to have a protractor for math."

The ebb and flow of friends. Finding the right "weirdo" you can connect with just when the last one you connected with drifts off to join the club and you felt yourself starting to fall into, as Anne of Green Gables would say, the "depths of despair".

When recommending this book to a teen, know the book and know the person. There is suicide, a girl kissing her female teacher, Wicca, teens smoking, fairly absent parents, an Asian girl called "Skim". No violence, no sex.

It's excellent!

WARNING: Right when I finished reading this I had to listen to Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.