Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story

Wow. I loved this! I mean I figured I would because I do love a graphic memoir but this was exceptional! The art was gorgeous and like NGE Shinji my heart was breaking for little HS Sarah finding heir way in the world through stories they loved.

Brutal, but also sweet (?), graphic memoir about an elder Millennial navigating their late 90s/early 2000s teenage wasteland.

So I think Sarah Myer (they/them) and me must be the exact same age cuz BOY DID THIS HIT HARD. I had forgotten - and this book made me horrifyingly REMEMBER - how that 1999/2000 high school business was like. But especially: how damningly socially retrogade we all were? Good Lord.

Myer was born in Korea, adopted by white parents in suburban/rural Maryland, and grows up to be super nerdy, quirky, anime-loving and gender non-conforming. They love drawing and are HUGE DORKS. Boy, did that hit hard too! Unfortunately, their surroundings are... well, middle America in 1999. AKA there's racism, homophobia, transphobia, just a bunch of toxic sludge sloshing around all over the place. Identity politics was just gaining steam, I would say, around those issues, and so it was, indeed, very normal to sling around “gay” as an insult. Confession: I remember one of my bffs, who was gay, once stopped me in my tracks in 2001 by being like, “you know, that's very hurtful”. Teenage me was like [Pikachu surprised face] IT IS???? Gawd, I'm so embarrassed, still, about that. Thank you, [redacted], for tolerating my ignorance!!!

So Myer had, unfortunately, some very awful instances of bullying - and this memoir does a good job of both contextualizing that bullying, as well as reflecting on it with compassionate, adult distance. This memoir was also such a sweet, inspiring portrayal of (transracial) adoption gone RIGHT; something I really needed, after the horrors of We Were Once a Family. I really appreciated how Myer's parents ALWAYS had their back - the scene where they go to Otakon with their dad, just SINGLE TEAR.

oh wowwwwwwww

what a slay. also I really am a sucker for books that explicitly use other media for characters (or in this case for the author themself) to process things. representation mattersssss

I don't like rating memoirs BUT this was just so well done. The pacing, the insights, the art...Myer executed their vision to perfection. I think just about any teen would find this highly relatable. This is one of those books that make you want to sincerely thank the author for putting out into the world. I will enthusiastically recommend this!