6/10, it was ok. ( )

Perhaps because I took French, I enjoyed this graphic novel? Sylvie Kantorovitz writes an autobiography for her early life up to when she goes off to Paris to study independently.

Sylvia grows up in a private school where her father is the principal. They live in an apartment on the grounds of the school. She describes her relationship with her parents, their relationship (as she perceived it) between each other, as well as her duties as the oldest child. Throughout her life, she loves drawing. School is very different in France, so it's interesting to see what stresses her out and how grades are done.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I think art students will enjoy it as well. ( )

There's nothing really wrong with this book, but as I flipped through its 340 pages (!) of gentle and heartfelt family anecdotes, I just did not find any hook to convince me that it was particularly original or worthwhile. The nuggets that might have been worth refining are washed away in a river of the ordinary. ( )

I thought this book was interesting but rather simplistic. Also the ending seemed very abrupt and took away from the rest of the story. I had hoped for more continuity between the sections to tell a more cohesive story. ( )

teen/adult graphic memoir - middlegraders and younger kids can read it too (the language is simple enough), but might care a lot less about Sylvie's near-existential struggle for career direction. It makes a lot more sense as a young adult/adult memoir. ( )