Kid Gloves, Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley ’03. This graphic memoir takes the genre to places not yet imagined in French Milk. Everyone we see walking around got to the planet the same way, yet the story in all its drama is usually behind a cloud. Lucy shows what it is all about, what can go wrong (the grief of miscarriage, the horrific nausea, and the perfect storm of birth issues) and what can eventually go right. Very right. (I flipped to the end – you guessed it: adorable baby).
Growing up in the forties, before anyone had a TV, I depended on comic books. Much of the pleasure of reading works where a picture is worth at least a thousand words is brought back by Lucy’s expressive drawings. The occasional ZOOM or angry tornedo over a head or words that escape the talk bubble take me back. Lucy has mastered a captivating genre. You can say that depression from miscarrying puts you in a pit. But seeing a woman curled in a fetal position in a dank pit hits you in the heart.
Segments on pregnancy research are enlightening. If there is a crazy superstition or misconception (oops, no pun intended) about pregnancy, you’ll find it here. The history of human birth is also replete with misogyny.
I’m wondering if young people should read this.It is quite scary. At the same time it is true and the author/heroine is victorious. I’ll leave it around and see if my grandson picks it up. As I think about it, young people like scary things.
