Life--and the love and absurdities therein--has proved fertile ground for acclaimed author-illustrator Lucy Knisley (Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride). In five published graphic novels, Knisley has turned her "pen inward to map the shifting tectonic plates" of her life and find meaning, purpose and silver linings--even with the curve balls thrown her way.
She continues in this vein in Kid Gloves, which intimately documents the thoughts and discoveries she made in conceiving and carrying a child, while also outlining the many challenges that plagued her on the rocky road to motherhood. Knisley shares her teenage experiences volunteering for Planned Parenthood. In college, she began an odyssey to find the right method of birth control, a hormone-dispensing rod implanted under the skin. Years later, the device is removed when she and John set out to conceive a child.
The graphics that accompany the travails of her hellacious morning sickness--"exorcist levels of puke" and even frightening, "insane" dreams of Donald Trump--along with her difficult labor and the harrowing complications after the baby's delivery are vivid, profound and visually imaginative. Throughout the story, Knisley adds levity by presenting illustrated factoids, myths and research about women's reproductive health. These include how Emily Brontë died from pregnancy sickness, how sexism has affected women's lives for centuries, the rise of the women's movement, and pregnancy, miscarriage and "conception misconceptions."
Knisley is a lively storyteller, and the encapsulated charm of her graphics holds equal appeal. In both arenas, her inimitable style builds suspense and ultimately oozes with hopeful optimism. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines