Samuel Sattin (Song of the Sea) uses his personal experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to create a heartwarming, authentic middle-grade graphic novel featuring a protagonist who is plagued by constant, negative thoughts.
Sattin presents the mental world of OCD as full of bees, pestering Isaac's every thought with negativity: "You've got germs"; "It'll be your fault"; "You don't deserve friends." Isaac finds a reprieve from the destructive busyness in his head when some classmates invite him to join a fantasy role-playing game. Though he makes friends and dulls the noise, his protective mother worries the game will negatively affect him and forbids him from playing. But Isaac finds an unlikely ally and covertly continues to play.
Rye Hickman and color assistant Kayton Uvick depict Isaac's world in a limited, grayscale palette with sunflower-yellow bees surrounding the boy's head. The orange-yellow bees pop against the dark colors, emphasizing the strength of the messages; the bees' number and suffocating closeness show the density of the intrusive thoughts. When Isaac begins playing Swamps & Sorcery, his physical world flushes with color and fewer bees appear in each panel. Sattin keeps the heaviness of the topic in check by transitioning between the real world and game campaigns; he touches briefly on gender identity through a romantic interest who shows Isaac he's not alone in falling outside society's idea of normal ("If you really think about it, weird is actually normal"). Buzzing blooms with insight, inspiration, and compassion. --Jen Forbus, freelancer