photo courtesy of K. Reyes 5/2021
Bibliographic Information:
- Title: Go With the Flow
- Author: Lily Williams & Karen Schneemann
- ISBN: 978-1250305725
- Publisher: First Second
- Copyright Date: 2020
Genre / Format of the Title:
- Realistic fiction, graphic novel [book]
- YALSA’s top 10 Graphic Novel, 2021 (Adair, 2021)
- Reading age : 12 - 18 years
- Grades 7-12 (Teachingbooks.net, 2021); ideal for all YA readers
Plot Summary:
Sasha is new to Hazelton High school where, after a menstrual mishap, she becomes friends with Abby, Brit, and Christina. Abby starts a blog called “The Mean Magenta, a Blog about Menstruation. Period” where she shares her thoughts about the inequity in her school in its treatment of a basic health issue like menstruation and its inability to provide for basic needs like tampons and sanitary napkins while having no problem paying for new uniforms for sports teams. Not content to just blog, and not seeing any results from her and her friends’ letter writing campaign, Abby decides to “go big or go home” and in the process tests the bonds of her friendship.
Sasha is new to Hazelton High school where, after a menstrual mishap, she becomes friends with Abby, Brit, and Christina. Abby starts a blog called “The Mean Magenta, a Blog about Menstruation. Period” where she shares her thoughts about the inequity in her school in its treatment of a basic health issue like menstruation and its inability to provide for basic needs like tampons and sanitary napkins while having no problem paying for new uniforms for sports teams. Not content to just blog, and not seeing any results from her and her friends’ letter writing campaign, Abby decides to “go big or go home” and in the process tests the bonds of her friendship.
Author/Illustrator Background:
Lily Williams, author and illustrator of this book, grew up in Northern California (I will guess Sacramento, as that figured in Sasha’s story) and graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA in Animation (Williams, 2021). She and Schneeman created a webcomic together called The Mean Magenta in 2016, also the title of her character Abby’s blog though the characters in this webcomic were in their twenties (Winner, 2020). Williams has authored and illustrated nonfiction books including If Sharks Disappeared, If Polar Bears Disappeared, and If Elephants Disappeared. She currently lives in Denver Colorado with her artist husband.
Co-author Karen Schneeman also grew up in Northern California and graduated from California College of the Arts where she met Lily Williams. Prior to going back to school to get an art degree, Schneeman already had an Engineering degree from UCLA. She lives in San Francisco with her two children. This is her first published book.
Lily Williams, author and illustrator of this book, grew up in Northern California (I will guess Sacramento, as that figured in Sasha’s story) and graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA in Animation (Williams, 2021). She and Schneeman created a webcomic together called The Mean Magenta in 2016, also the title of her character Abby’s blog though the characters in this webcomic were in their twenties (Winner, 2020). Williams has authored and illustrated nonfiction books including If Sharks Disappeared, If Polar Bears Disappeared, and If Elephants Disappeared. She currently lives in Denver Colorado with her artist husband.
Co-author Karen Schneeman also grew up in Northern California and graduated from California College of the Arts where she met Lily Williams. Prior to going back to school to get an art degree, Schneeman already had an Engineering degree from UCLA. She lives in San Francisco with her two children. This is her first published book.
Below is an interview with the authors about the creative process behind the book (Southgate, 2020).
Critical Evaluation for Books:
This graphic novel is quite impressive in its ability to take the mundane and not discussed outside a health class topic of one's period and craft an entire book on the topic. Beyond periods, this is also a story about teens navigating the minefield that is high school and the end is a testament to the value of female friendships. The characters are also drawn to be ethnically diverse, of different body types, and different family compositions (single parent, grand parent, traditional two parents). It doesn’t shy away from interracial relationships, same-sex attraction, and discussion of surrogate pregnancy.
Going with the theme of periods, the pages are saturated with crimson and other variants of red colors including Abby, the blog writer, who is drawn with big, red hair. Overall, this book would be a great discovery for any high school girl, especially one who may not be so comfortable with their own monthly cycle. It is also important to have this available for everyone to read because periods should be normalized and everyone should be able to talk about it.
This graphic novel is quite impressive in its ability to take the mundane and not discussed outside a health class topic of one's period and craft an entire book on the topic. Beyond periods, this is also a story about teens navigating the minefield that is high school and the end is a testament to the value of female friendships. The characters are also drawn to be ethnically diverse, of different body types, and different family compositions (single parent, grand parent, traditional two parents). It doesn’t shy away from interracial relationships, same-sex attraction, and discussion of surrogate pregnancy.
Going with the theme of periods, the pages are saturated with crimson and other variants of red colors including Abby, the blog writer, who is drawn with big, red hair. Overall, this book would be a great discovery for any high school girl, especially one who may not be so comfortable with their own monthly cycle. It is also important to have this available for everyone to read because periods should be normalized and everyone should be able to talk about it.
Creative Use for a Library Program:
Health class is a mandatory course in our school and a collaboration with the health teacher to bring her students to the library for a presentation on books we have on hand that deal with reproductive health (including this book) could be a useful partnership. Not only could it increase circulation of books but it would open the library stacks to students who don’t normally visit the library unless brought in by a teacher.
Health class is a mandatory course in our school and a collaboration with the health teacher to bring her students to the library for a presentation on books we have on hand that deal with reproductive health (including this book) could be a useful partnership. Not only could it increase circulation of books but it would open the library stacks to students who don’t normally visit the library unless brought in by a teacher.
Speed-Round Book Talk or Short Book Trailer:
So you get your period on your first day in a new school and everyone makes fun of you, or so you think until a group of girls take you in as part of their friend group. One of those friends decides that one’s period is serious stuff and tampons and pads should be freely available in bathrooms. So her crusade begins and you’re in for a ride that takes unexpected turns. Read and find out how it all ends.
So you get your period on your first day in a new school and everyone makes fun of you, or so you think until a group of girls take you in as part of their friend group. One of those friends decides that one’s period is serious stuff and tampons and pads should be freely available in bathrooms. So her crusade begins and you’re in for a ride that takes unexpected turns. Read and find out how it all ends.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation:
This being a high school book, I don’t anticipate anyone disagreeing with the topic of one's period. There is no insidious messaging here. Not even a tampon vs pad discussion. The blog of one of the characters provides adequate and accurate information that would be awkward as part of a dialogue but quite appropriate for a blog write-up. I could see someone argue that the art perpetuates female body and racial stereotypes (the petite Asian who has a white boyfriend, the skinny white girls who may be lesbians, the somewhat plump black girl who has health problems). For now, I think the message of the story overshadows these potential negatives.
This being a high school book, I don’t anticipate anyone disagreeing with the topic of one's period. There is no insidious messaging here. Not even a tampon vs pad discussion. The blog of one of the characters provides adequate and accurate information that would be awkward as part of a dialogue but quite appropriate for a blog write-up. I could see someone argue that the art perpetuates female body and racial stereotypes (the petite Asian who has a white boyfriend, the skinny white girls who may be lesbians, the somewhat plump black girl who has health problems). For now, I think the message of the story overshadows these potential negatives.
Reason for Inclusion:
This graphic novel is funny and educational. It also normalizes what many are too embarrassed to talk about.
This graphic novel is funny and educational. It also normalizes what many are too embarrassed to talk about.
REFERENCES
Adair, T. (2021, January 25). YALSA's Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens for 2021. The Beat. https://www.comicsbeat.com/young-adult-library-services-association-announces-the-2021-great-graphic-novels-for-teens/
Southgate, M. (Host). (2020, April 21). Interview with Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann from C2E2 2020. Read Between the Lines [Audio Podcast]. https://readbetweenthelines.libsyn.com/interview-with-lines-lilly-williams-and-karen-schneeman-from-c2e2-2020
TeachingBooks.net. (2021). Go with the Flow. TeachingBooks. https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=67679
Williams, L. (2021, March 9). Bio. Lily Williams. https://lilywilliamsart.com/bio/.
Winner, M. (Host). (2020, April 7). Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann. The Children's Book Podcast #582 [Audio file podcast]. https://youtu.be/bXOT4uF3v8s
Southgate, M. (Host). (2020, April 21). Interview with Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann from C2E2 2020. Read Between the Lines [Audio Podcast]. https://readbetweenthelines.libsyn.com/interview-with-lines-lilly-williams-and-karen-schneeman-from-c2e2-2020
TeachingBooks.net. (2021). Go with the Flow. TeachingBooks. https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=67679
Williams, L. (2021, March 9). Bio. Lily Williams. https://lilywilliamsart.com/bio/.
Winner, M. (Host). (2020, April 7). Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann. The Children's Book Podcast #582 [Audio file podcast]. https://youtu.be/bXOT4uF3v8s
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