Week ending February 22, 2019

Chisholm, Holly. Just Peachy: Comics About Depression, Anxiety, Love, and Finding the Humor in Being Sad. Skyhorse. Mar. 2019. 144p. ISBN 9781510742000. pap. $14.99; ebk. ISBN 9781510742048. Rated: Teen+. MEMOIR
[DEBUT] “My therapist told me to journal,” reports Chisholm. “I tried, but my writing sounded whiney.” Somehow, though, we know she’ll survive her depression and anxiety when she swaps out print for her voice of choice—cartooning: “Maybe I’ll draw my feelings instead.” And hence this loose first collection of cute and oddly charming vignettes about her mental health and coping strategies, collected from a webcomic. The author’s round-faced avatar argues with the dark wraith personifying depression, banishes the black blob of anxiety, and negotiates with the chirpy mental health fairy. Boyfriends, old friends, family, and healing pets all pop in and out of her story. “You can make it through,” she advises readers, and she supplies a list of resources at the end. Simple, approachable art, with spot coloring of pale pastels, especially peach, lends soothing encouragement and helps her message go down easy and may encourage more depressives to read and benefit, especially young adults and teens.
VERDICT Amid a cacophony of media trumpeting overachievement (“having it all,” “being best”), Chisholm’s honest yet lighthearted approach to being just OK and not hating herself is likely to induce empathy and self-recognition without scaring off fellow sufferers and their advocates.—Martha Cornog, Philadelphia

Various. Puerto Rico Strong: A Comics Anthology Supporting Puerto Rico Disaster Relief and Recovery. Lion Forge. 2018. 208p. ISBN 9781941302903. pap. $12.99. Rated: Teen+. ANTHOLOGIES
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the island faced a death toll of nearly 3,000 and billions of dollars in damage. The sluggishness of federal aid efforts and tepid public response revealed that many Americans did not realize that Puerto Ricans are Americans, too—not a “them” but an “us.” While the hurricane is the obvious thread running throughout this benefit anthology, the stories are not necessarily about the disaster; the recurring theme is Puerto Rican pride, a call for solidarity as the island rebuilds. Exploring topics as varied as the zemi god of Taíno lore (Marco Lopez and others’ “Of Myth & Monsters”) to the forced sterilization of women in the 1930s–60s (Ally Shwed’s “La Operación”) to the experience of contemporary Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland (Tara Martinez and Rod Espinosa’s “Breaking Bread”), the writing and art styles are sometimes uneven but always heartfelt.
VERDICT A similar benefit collection, Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico, features higher-profile comics creators, but one of the strengths of this volume is its inclusion of lesser-known, up-and-comers—a worthy addition to any library.—Ingrid Bohnenkamp, Springfield–Greene Cty. Lib. Dist., MO