I will be discussing and analyzing two graphic novels that both have beautiful illustrations and a story that does not leave the reader's mind even after they finish reading. The two graphic novels I will explore are, Stargazing and New Shoes. Stargazing was written and illustrated by Jen Wang. Lark Pien had the pleasure of adding color to the graphic novel Stargazing.
Stargazing, written by Jen Wang, is told in the perspective of an Asian American girl named Christine. Christine is a reserved young girl, who feels pressure to live up to her parents expectations of how to be successful. One day, Christine notices her parents cleaning out their old shed for a mother and her daughter to move into. The daughter is Moon. Moon does not fit in with other kids. She is a vegetarian, a Buddhist, not the best at school, and artistic. This book shows the challenges many young people feel about fitting in with their peers and how our differences tend to seem more prevalent than before. Stargazing navigates the pressure to fit-in with peers and friendships through a lighthearted story of a shy girl who collides with a bubbly character when they become neighbors.
Jen Wang put a lot of personal aspects of her life into the characters, Moon and Christine. Jen grew up in a region with other Chinese and Taiwanese immigrant families and their American-born kids. Jen states in her Afterword in Stargazing that, “the more you’re expected to share with a group of people, the more you obsess over the ways you are different”. She states that she relates to the character Moon in the sense that she did not excel in academics, wanted to be an artist and her family was Buddhist and vegetarians. Jen had a hard time feeling comfortable in her own identity because growing up, she was not like the other Asian American kids. When Jen was six years old, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor just like Moon’s character had in the graphic novel. When Jen reflects on this event, she states that she was too young to realize what was happening. Her vision would go dark and she would notice star-like images. She did not tell anyone, she thought it was normal. Until, the seizures became more noticable and she had to get surgery. This life event allowed for her to pour more emotion into creating Moon’s character. The celestial beings resembled the stars Jen would see.
The last paragraph in Jen’s Afterword in Stargazing really resonated with me, “Writing Stargazing was as much about healing myself as about showing the diversity of experience even within a very specific community. As our society continues to diversify, I imagine there will be more Moons and Christens out there wondering which parts of them are “not Asian,” and which parts are just uniquely and wonderfully them.” I thought the way Jen stated that is a perfect message that sums up the take away I got from reading Stargazing. That we do not have to fit into this perfect mold our peers and parents set out for us, we can branch away by doing things that represent our interests and our own unique self.
Lark Pien is a cartoonist, artist, and author of children’s books and graphic novels. Her work has been included in the New York Times’ best-selling publications as well! In an interview with Jen Wang, she discusses how this is her first time using someone else to add color to her drawings. Pien added color and detail to things that Wang would have never thought of, like clothing patterns and labels.
Check out Jen Wang’s website: https://www.jenwang.net/
Jen Wang Interview: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=jen-wang-draws-from-reality-stargazing
More Information on Lark Pien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lark_Pien
New Shoes, written by Sara Varon, follows a donkey named Francis, who is a shoe maker in a village in Guyana, South America who goes on an adventure through the jungle with a parrot named Rhoda. Rhoda and Francis encounter lots of unfamiliar animals and situations that take them out of their comfort zone. On their journey, they are trying to find their friend Nigel because Francis has to make shoes for the wonderful Calypso singer Miss Manatee. When they finally find Nigel, captured, Francis and Rhoda learn that Nigel has been stealing materials to bring to Francis to make his shoes. With the help of some new and old friends, Francis is able to create a new kind of shoe to help Miss Manatee move comfortably on land.
Sara Varon is a printmaker, graphic novelist, and children’s book author/illustrator living in Brooklyn. Her concept behind making new shoes started in 2012, when she was traveling with her husband to Guyana to visit his family. Her husband's family lives in Linden, where she described life as being really slow. She fell in love with the animal aspects of Linden. The animals were loose everywhere, cows and goats walking around in town. Even donkeys on their own! This is where she got the inspiration of her illustrations and characters in the graphic novel New Shoes. Sara described how there were so many new animals and fruits that she learned about while in Guyana and wanted to contribute that into her story, which is why Francis is discovering all new things so the reader can have a similar experience to hers. Sara Varon has won awards for her writing and illustrations, so many that I cannot even count them on both of my hands!
Check out her website to see all her awards and more : http://chickenopolis.com/
Interview about New Shoes: http://www.comicosity.com/interview-sara-varon-goes-on-a-quest-
Even though Stargazing and New Shoes are completely different stories, I noticed during my experience reading these graphic novels, the illustrations supported my reading in the same ways. The way Wang and Varon used their artistic skills within the character’s facial expressions made the text more real to me. I was able to visually understand how the character was feeling in that moment, which caused me to be much more engaged in the story.
In Stargazing, on page 6 when Christine is having a conversation with her father about the photographs he took at her recital, without any words you can see how annoyed Christine is that her dad only took two photos just by her facial expression. Also on page 31, when Christine is invited over to Moon’s house to have dinner, they are eating dan dan mian, which traditionally has pork in it. Mrs. Lin states that they do not eat meat so there are mushrooms in the sauce instead. Through the illustrations you see Christine go from startled, unsure, to happy all without words! This is one of my favorite things about graphic novels. How the illustrator can create more plot to the story without using any words. Even in a story about a Donkey shoemaker, the facial expressions the characters have thicken the plot without words!
On pages 34-37 of New Shoes, I could see Francis' mood change so clearly without having to read text to understand his emotions. On page 34 Francis is feeling anxious and worried that Nigel is not home and he needs to fulfill a shoe order by a certain date. He is so caught up in his thoughts that he does not notice Rhoda coming up to him which causes him to get scared. On page 35 we can see sweat illustrated on Francis to express a startled feeling. On pages 36-37 Francis is explaining to Rhoda his situation and throughout this conversation, I could see how Francis was feeling due to the detail of his facial expressions. At first he seems worried that he will disappoint Mrs. Manatee, then a little frustrated that he cannot solve his problem on his own, then anxious about leaving the village, and then relieved when Rhoad suggests her coming along on the journey to find Nigel. Both of these graphic novels possess illustrations that aid the reader in understanding how a character is feeling without words.
I also like how Sara Varon included labels throughout her story with new animals and fruit! This helps the reader identify unfamiliar items while reading the story. I feel that Sara’s incorporation of labels is a call back to her finding out all sorts of new animals and fruits while she was in Guyana visiting her husband’s family. This made my reading much more enjoyable because I did not have to just wonder what that animal was or skip over it, Sara drew my attention to the object by adding a label. This allowed me to build more knowledge about the wildlife in South America.
In Stargazing, Jen Wang added a lot of elements from her own life and experiences into her writing. I especially enjoyed reading how she used her feelings of identity and wove them into both Moon and Christine's characters. Everyone in their lifetime has felt the pressure of fitting in. Whether that be to your peers, family, work environment, even sports teams. In the Afterword, Jen states how it has taken her thirty-three years to be able to confront and reflect comfortably on her feelings of where she fit in. “If I wasn’t like other Asian American kids, who was I supposed to be like?” She goes on to explain how through the process of writing Stargazing she was able to heal herself as well as representing the diversity of experience within her community. This brought to my attention how negative and positive stereotypes can be to children and adults. How being different can be viewed as bad or good. In chapter seven, Honoring Others, in the textbook Reading to Make a Difference by Laminack and Kelly, they begin to discuss how, “Children learn from adults that some differences are valued while others are seens as a deficit, a reason to step back and get distance from another person” (117). Which is followed by a list of characteristics and they ask the reader which differences were the valued ones when you were being raised. This got me to think about my own upbringing and how, even at a young age, my parents shaped me to have negative views on certain aspects of people’s lives. These thoughts ended up bringing me back to Stargazing. Jen Wang did not feel that she fit in with her Asian American peers because she was a vegetarian, Buddhist, did not excel in school and wanted to be an artist. However, all these qualities are what makes her unique and her own person. I think a discussion about the critical social issue, stereotypes, could be brought about through the reading of Stargazing and learning about Jen Wang.
Stereotypes are the idea that everyone within a specific group shares the same qualities and characteristics. There are stereotypes around race, sexual orientation, cultures, hair styles, clothes, home life, transportation, and friend groups. I think by using Stargazing to talk about how Moon and Christine did or did not fit into the “stereotype” their community had set in place for them can guide a conversation about how harmful stereotypes can be sometimes. Christine had started that conversation with her Dad about how he wants her to be perfect and how hard living up to that expectation can be. Moon stood out because she did not fit in, but that is what made her, her. Through the graphic novel, a conversation about how we can appreciate everyone’s differences and see how they make everyone unique could arise. Even by starting out a lesson with asking the class to come up with words that describe “Man” and “Woman”. This can allow the teacher to ask the class if it is safe to assume all men are this way and all women are this way. It allows the students to be introduced to stereotypes and then expand past that and into the conversation of race and culture.
Like I stated above, facial expressions in graphic novels are key to identify how a character is feeling or how they are acting in the moment without having to use words. On pages 166 through 169, Christine is feeling guilty and anxious about how she embarrassed Moon at the birthday party by exposing her journal drawing of her and Mr. Pennypacker. Now, Moon is in the hospital for brain surgery to remove a tumor and Christine does not feel that she can face Moon after what she did. On page 166, Christine’s dad is going to ask her if she would like to visit Moon in the Hospital. However, Christine was eavesdropping and was already right around the corner. By Christine’s facial expression you can see her red face and sweat around her to depict she was feeling anxious about listening in on a conversation. Then you can see Christine's face change after her dad asks her if she would like to see Moon while Moon’s mother was there. Christine’s eyebrows move down, as well as her eyes. She looks embarrassed when she says no and then runs upstairs to avoid any more questions. On page 167, we can see that Christine is trying to not remind herself of Moon and what she did right before she went to the hospital by shittin gher blinds to hide their house. Which then leads to pages 168-169, where the guilt sets in for Christine. In the second panel on page 168, she looks like she never fell asleep and was up all night unable to get Moon off her mind. Then throughout the day, she seems preoccupied thinking about Moon and her actions. She immediately goes up stairs and is consumed by guilt and is unable to do anything, even fall asleep.
Through these four panels, the reader can dive into why Christine is acting the way she is, why she is saying specific things and how she is drawn. Her face is red with guilt and embarrassment when she is confronted by her Dad and Moon’s mom. Her face is also drawn with her eyebrows low and in a straight line. No emotion is coming across her face because she is in deep thought about Moon. She denies the offer to visit Moon by coming up with an excuse about having a test because she is too guilty to face Moon because she was a bad friend. She is having sleepless nights because she is constantly thinking about her actions towards Moon. Christine is also isolating herself from her family because she feels too anxious and upset about Moon. I think using these four panels, that mostly have no words, to describe how Christine is feeling would be amazing because the feeling of guilt is harder to identify, but with context, the students should start to analyze the images in-depth and feel how Christine is feeling. Also, I feel that everyone can relate to feeling guilty about something. Whether that be taking a friends toy without asking or being mean to someone. These panels accurately depict how overwhelming this feeling can be through the illustrations done by Wang.
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