Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands: A Graphic Novel Review

“It felt like I had a second to decide, and an eternity to live with it.”

Before she ever appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for her comics, Kate Beaton was Katie: A university graduate drowning in debt like a lot of the young people in Canada’s Cape Breton. She knows nowhere else will ever feel like home the way Mabou does. She knows she’ll return.

But Kate also knows that if she ever wants a future without crippling debt, she has to leave because everyone in Cape Breton knows there is no work there.

Which brings Kate, like so many others, to Fort McMurray–a camp in the oil sands. Unlike most of the others who migrate there for work Kate is a woman–one of the only ones among thousands of men. Moving from camp to camp, she chases higher pay and better jobs starting in a machine shed before moving to more and more isolated camps chasing an office job and–once her student loans are paid–a chance to leave.

Life in the oil sands is boring and tedious. It’s lonely and isolating for everyone. More so for the women. It’s dangerous for everyone but in different ways for the women. While the factories track days without lost time and efficiency, the human wreckage accumulates everywhere in Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022) by Kate Beaton.

Find it on Bookshop.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a powerful graphic memoir. The story explores Beaton’s own experiences working at different camps and sites in the Canadian oil sands first as a tool crib attendant and later in an office job. In environments where men outnumber women 50 to 1 Beaton navigates sexism, misogyny, and harassment while also confronting the uncomfortable reality that the men behind all of these behaviors could just as easily be her own friends and relatives from back home in Cape Breton where many other Canadians have to negotiate their pride of place with the lack of jobs and career prospects.

Through the stories of colleagues and friends she meets along the way, the toll of working in the camps is clearly broadcast long before Beaton gets there. That said, readers should be aware that much of the story deals with Beaton processing the trauma surrounding her own sexual assault during her time at the oil sands.

Beaton’s black and white illustrations work well here with fine detail used to depict her two year journey to pay off her student loans. Full-page spreads convey the scale of the machinery and scope of the camps while smaller panels lend a claustrophobic feel to much of the story to underscore Kate’s isolation and turmoil.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is a masterful and intentional graphic memoir; often a difficult read but well worth it.

Possible Pairings: Our Little Secret by Emily Carrington, Radium Girls by Cy, Factory Summer by Guy Delisle, 100 Days in the Uranium City by Ariane Denomme, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, Desperate Pleasures by MS Harkness, The Pervert by Michelle Perez, The High Desert by James Spooner

Crying in the Bathroom: A Non-Fiction Review

Erika Sanchez grew up in Chicago in the 1990s. The daughter of Mexican immigrants she grew up knowing how to laugh and how to cause trouble for her family and anyone else caught in her vortex.

A lot has changed in the intervening years. Now she’s a renowned poet and novelist. She’s in love. She’s started a family. She’s happy more often than not.

But before that she had to get through the year her vagina broke, a soul-sucking corporate job, an affair with a man that lasted longer than it should have after she learned he was married, and several episodes of debilitating depression. All of which she talks about in Crying in the Bathroom (2022) by Erika L. Sanchez.

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Sanchez’s memoir is raw and authentic as she explores personal autonomy, humor, colorism and beyond in this essay collection which she also reads for the audiobook. At times abrasive and sharp, Sanchez’s struggles are grounded in authenticity as she struggles through depression, tries to reconcile her understanding of her adult identity with motherhood, and explores the cultural nuances of humor.

Crying in the Bathroom is an exploration of navigating adulthood and growing up that is often funny, sometimes cringey, and always relatable.

Possible Pairings: Fruit Punch by Kendra Allen, Black Dove by Ana Castillo, This is Really Happening by Erin Chack, Finding Me by Viola Davis, This Will Be Funny Later by Jenny Pentland, Making a Scene by Constance Wu

*An advance listening copy of this title was provided by the publisher through Libro.fm*

Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #Metoo Movement: A Non-Fiction Review

In 2015 nineteen-year-old Toufah Jallow dreamt of winning a prestigious scholarship from a presidential competition (similar to a pageant) that drew competitors throughout The Gambia. Growing up in her father’s polygamous household with her mother, his second wife, Toufah knew that the scholarship–and the promise of attending any university of her choice anywhere in the world–could be life changing.

When Toufah wins with her focus on touring a play about how to eradicate poverty in the country, she expects it to be the beginning of everything she dreamt of.

Instead Toufah is drugged and raped by Yahya Jammeh–the so-called president and dictator of The Gambia behind the competition.

Terrified that speaking out will put her family in danger, Toufah knows she can’t stay in her home or even her country. She needs to escape before she can share her story.

After a harrowing escape to Senegal, Toufah connects with international humanitarian organizations that help her get to Canada. After years of acclimating to a new culture and climate while processing her trauma, Jammeh is deposed and eighteen months in July 2019 Toufah becomes the first woman in The Gambia to publicly accuse Jammeh of rape.

Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #Metoo Movement (2021) by Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway is the story of Toufah’s testimony and how it sparked marches, protests, and with #IAmToufah led Toufah down a path of advocacy for sexual violence survivors around the world.

Find it on Bookshop.

If you have any inclination toward audiobooks I highly recommend checking out the audiobook of this memoir which Toufah reads herself.

Although Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #Metoo Movement includes hard material, it is all handled with care and intention. Toufah’s time in Canada particularly adds much needed levity to this timely story. Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #Metoo Movement is a timely story that situates the #MeToo movement in an international context and demonstrates the lasting impact of standing up and speaking out.

Possible Pairings: Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement by Tarana Burke, Everything I Never Dreamed: My Life Surviving and Standing Up to Domestic Violence by Ruth M. Glenn, You Too?: 25 Voices Share Their #MeToo Stories edited by Janet Gurtler, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Ignited a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey, Know My Name by Chanel Miller

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Non-Fiction Review

All Boys Aren’t Blue (2020) by George M. Johnson (find it on Bookshop) collects essays by Johnson about his life growing up as a Black queer boy (and young man) in New Jersey and in his college years in Virginia.

The essays cover a range of topics from Johnson’s first identity crisis when he found out his name was George despite his family always calling him Matt (his middle name) to when his teeth were knocked out at five years old by neighbor kids. Stories of pushing against gender binaries, navigating high school while publicly closeted, and working up to coming up and living his true life in college all illustrate the challenges of triumphs of growing up to become your best self even if that is often in the absence of any support in terms of seeing yourself in media like TV shows or books like this one.

Each essay works well on its own presenting a contained story or anecdote from Johnson’s life although transitions between each chapter/essay fail to create a cohesive whole. Johnson addresses topics of drug use, sexual abuse with care guiding readers through these challenging topics while also giving them space to step away from the book if needed.

All Boys Aren’t Blue celebrates Black Joy, family, and individuality in a book that begins to fill a gap in written experiences for teen readers. If you decide to pick this one up and are able to read audiobooks, I highly recommend this one which is read by the author.

Be Prepared: A Graphic Novel Review

Vera has been trying hard to fit in with her friends in the suburbs. After carefully studying all of the ingredients, Vera knows exactly what she needs to have the perfect birthday party. Except the end result doesn’t turn out quite right. The Russian pizza place doesn’t stuff their crust with cheese. The Russian bakery doesn’t have ice cream cake. And Vera’s single mother can’t afford a big house like the other girls so the sleepover is more cramped than fun.

As summer approaches and all of her friends talk about going to camp Vera is reminded that her family can’t afford camp and she’ll be spending another summer at home with her siblings. Until Vera finds out about something amazing at church: Russian summer camp!

Vera is certain that Russian summer camp is her chance to finally fit in and make friends. And even if things go wrong, it’s only two weeks, right?

Unfortunately things go wrong almost immediately.

Vera winds up at a camp filled with Russian history lessons, older girl drama, no candy, and worst of all outhouses instead of indoor plumbing! When her two weeks turn into a full month Vera will have to see if she can use her love of art and (some) animals to try and turn things around in Be Prepared (2018) by Vera Brosgol.

Find it on Bookshop.

Brosgol’s latest book is an excellent addition to the increasingly popular graphic novel memoir arena. The story is inspired by Brosgol’s own childhood and includes an author’s note at the end explaining how she adapted her real life experiences into a compelling graphic novel.

Be Prepared has a palette of green, black, and white lending a natural feel to the artwork even before Vera (and her younger brother who is forced to tag along) show up at camp. Brosgol’s artwork has bold lines that help to convey expressive characters and detailed backdrops. Young Vera’s drawings are also integrated well into the comic with a less polished pencil-like drawing style.

Be Prepared is an utterly sympathetic story of plans gone wrong, scary bathrooms, nature, and learning to adapt. Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeie or Shannon Hale.

Possible Pairings: El Deafo by Cece Bell, Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo, Making Friends by Kristen Gudsnuk, Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham, All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson, Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Smile by Raina Telgemeier

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*