Improve

July 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 This autobiographical comic is both a look at one person's journey with anxiety and a class on improv. Graudins reveals that she's suffered from crippling anxiety since childhood; moving to a small town after college made her feel even more isolated. Having more casually participated in improv while in school, she forces herself to enroll in an improv class where she must interact with strangers and learn to not beat herself up over every imagined failure. While describing in detail how each improv game works, Graudins shows how the various games help her identify and often overcome her fear. The art is vibrant and clear and characters are easy to follow through the different stages of her growth. Graphic memoirs about anxiety are not uncommon, but Graudins' unusual take explores how facing fears and a willingness to try something new--even something as straightforward as improv--can be a significant step in changing one's life.

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October 14, 2022

Gr 7 Up-A personal and surprisingly comprehensive introduction to improv for the uninitiated. After struggling with social interactions in college and weathering the emotional nosedive of post-graduation loneliness, Graudins tentatively attempts to end her self-isolation by enrolling in improv classes in her small Rhode Island town. Though many imagine improv as a purely comedic form, Graudins's personal experience reveals its essential emphasis on the building blocks and nuances of human interactions. The book's illustration style is at once mercilessly cute and satisfyingly precise, echoing the work of such memoir-documentary cartoonists as Erika Moen and Lucy Knisley. With a bevy of improv exercise examples (and an appendix with more!) and excerpts from texts on the form, this graphic memoir is a love letter to the theatrical practice that helped Graudins grow. VERDICT Part memoir, part handbook, this title is poised to pique the interest of socially cautious readers and the theatrically inclined.-Emilia Packard

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July 15, 2022
"Yes, and" your way out of social anxiety. Part memoir, part introduction to the world of improv comedy, this graphic memoir follows illustrator Graudins from childhood through her young adult years. Graudins admired the confidence and camaraderie of the theater kids at her school, and although she attempted to join them, her social anxiety--represented as a devilish doppelg�nger--stopped her from fully participating. This voice of self-doubt follows her throughout her academic career and is often represented only by black thought balloons that dominate panels with negative ruminations and fear. That artistic choice works well, as readers unfamiliar with anxiety will immediately understand the weight and all-consuming oppressive nature of the condition. After flirting with improv in college and being challenged by a therapist to be more proactive in addressing her anxiety, Graudins enrolled in beginners' improv, and the narrative shifts from a traditional memoir to cover extensive information about improv. Readers who are interested in this art will find this a valuable and well-written introductory guide. Those who are more interested in other aspects of Graudins' story may find the nuanced information about improv lessons tedious. The clean, appealing, cartoon-style art is particularly effective at showing improv exercises and expressing Graudins' inner emotions. Informative reading for young people seeking creative ways to break the chains of social anxiety. (author's note, further reading, games) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-18)

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