Escape from "Special" (Paperback)

~ Miss Lasko-Gross (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like many people, Lasko-Gross's protagonist, Melissa, has had a difficult girlhood; like an increasing number of people, her creator has drawn short, anecdotal, "semi-autobiographical" sketches as a first graphic novel. In a series of brief stories that capture the heightened emotional pitch of adolescence, Melissa grows up in a family of hippies who briefly send her to a experimental education school. She goes out on the road with a band her father's working with; she visits her racist grandfather; she's sent to a child psychologist and very quickly learns not only how to outsmart him but how to use psychological tactics with people who bully her. Having worked her way up from being ostracized because she's in the "special studies" group to being ostracized because she's in her middle school class's highest reading group, she concludes that " 'special' is just a nice way of saying retarded or stupid or weird." Lasko-Gross's artwork is a delicately shaded refinement of the caricatures young Melissa draws to mock her rivals. Her knack for odd, distorted anatomy that neatly conveys facial expressions and body language owes something to Lynda Barry, as does her half-cutting, half-sympathetic attitude toward characters obsessed with the pecking order in middle-school cliques. (Feb.)
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From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–This semiautobiographical work exposes the awkward adolescence of Melissa, a bright girl who is trying to fit in at school and to cope with her family. She finds reading difficult and is placed in a special class, yet her sense of alienation does not diminish when she begins to excel academically. Lasko-Gross's strength lies in her illustrations. Rendered in blacks, whites, and smoky grays, the expressive artwork uses dusky tones to accompany the dark humor of the narrative. Readers familiar with Lynda Barry's work will find that Lasko-Gross covers similar territory. The author collects brief stories, some no more than a page, that together form a loose portrait of Melissa's childhood and teenage years. The dialogue is candid and without flourish. Some embarrassing memories are shared in a tone that is self-mocking, while other episodes, such as a mishap at the local swimming pool in which Melissa endangers her little sister, are recalled with anguish and self-loathing. Melissa struggles to express herself in encounters with racist relatives and insincere friends, and she begins to draw cartoons as a coping mechanism. The situations depicted are a mixture of the mundane and the surreal, blending together family vacations, summer camp, therapy sessions, and school-yard bullying.–Heidi Dolamore, San Mateo County Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (February 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156097804X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560978046
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,980 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars POWERFUL TAKE ON EARLY DEVELOPMENT!, February 18, 2007

By	Betsy - See all my reviews

THIS WAS A BRAND NEW GENRE FOR ME, A SERIOUS COMIC BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL.

THE DRAWINGS WERE AT LEAST AS COMMUNICATIVE AS THE WORDS, A WONDERFUL COMBINATION OF EXPRESSION. IF THE WORDS DON'T GRAB YOU, THE DRAWINGS DO.

AND THE AUTHOR'S ABILITY TO LAY HER EMOTIONS OUT FOR ALL TO SEE WAS AMAZING, AND COURAGEOUS. YOUNG ADULTS AND SENIORS ALIKE WILL FIND RESONANCE WITH HER STORY.

I LOOK FORWARD TO THE SEQUEL.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, July 17, 2007

By	Bobbie Frey "happily working part time" (Chalfont,Pa) - See all my reviews

This new author has a clever take on the angst of a girls childhood. Through her novel use of a comic book format, she draws her readers in with her dialogue and artwork. A must read for any girl who thinks she's the only one with different thoughts.Escape from "Special"