Not a Game

This was really #relatable and I liked how messy it was–how even as we see what a hard time lil Shannon is having, we also see her inadvertently being kind of a dick herself and diminishing her friends by trying to build herself up. Great for fans of [b:Smile 6393631 Smile Raina Telgemeier https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438206850s/6393631.jpg 6582125] [b:El Deafo 20701984 El Deafo Cece Bell https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1423770455s/20701984.jpg 40021855] etc!I also loved the stories within stories from Shannon's imagination. A fun & bittersweet look at the tween ~growing out of playing pretend~ age.The art is fantastic, too–all the girls are very easily distinguishable (as is the difference between the girls with new clothes and the girls with hand-me-downs), and the different styles between “reality” and the various pretend/daydream sequences is amazing. One small concern I had–lil Shannon had some pretty big signs of OCD throughout the narrative (needing to count things and feeling intense anxiety based on what number she counted), and in the post-GN author's note she mentions she probably had OCD but it was never diagnosed... which, I mean, this is a memoir and I don't think Shannon should make up something like that! And she does mention some resources in her author's note...I hope kids who need it stick around for that!