Brady, Matt (October 12, 2006). "MARSHALL LIBARAY BOARD VOTES TO ADOPT MATERIALS SELECTION POLICY". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 19, 2006 . Retrieved October 12, 2006. Anyway, obviously it’s just me and I read this wrong. Go read Carmen’s review instead. She’s good at words – even when those words are about a “pitcherbook” ; ) Wow. Every bit as earthshaking and meaningful as Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, this graphic novel by Craig Thompson published in 2003 by Top Shelf is one thoughtful Americans do not want to miss. Christian evangelical notions of life on earth and what comes after are a huge part of the narrative of our nation. Even today when our population is more diverse than ever, the history of these core beliefs within our citizenry continue to affect the direction of our politics.

There is a beautiful scene in which Craig and his first girlfriend Raina are separating after spending two weeks together. They are deeply in love, as only first loves can be, and it is the last time they will ever see each other. They first pull up in the parking lot of a diner, and the image is drawn with shadows. The parents exchange greetings, the teenagers exchange farewells. Again, we see an aerial view of the diner and the parking lot. But now, everything is white. There are no shadows, and only the outlines of the buildings and vehicles give us a sense of where we are. The snow encompasses and swallows everything. Raina’s car pulls out of the parking lot and we feel with Craig the muteness he must feel, the muteness of the snow and the loss of the girl he loves. In my opinion, a lot of what happens to Craig and the decisions he ultimately makes are a result of the religious fundamentalism that was a big part of his life. What impacted me the most was watching the change in this young man’s faith. I mean this literally too, as the graphics are so illuminating and emotive. Words were not always necessary to convey what was going on in Craig’s mind. When we do have the opportunity to read his thoughts, I found them quite powerful. Thompson has continued his remarkable success, and in 2011 Pantheon Books published Habibi, a book Thompson had begun working on in 2004 after traveling in Europe for a time. Influenced by Arabic calligraphy and Islamic mythology, Thompson tells us "I'm playing with Islam in the same way I was playing with Christianity in Blankets.” [ Wiki]. Raina's mother: Raina's mother has no interest in repairing her relationship with her husband, and is trying to move on. Both she and her husband leave Raina to take care of her adopted siblings, as well as her niece. After being away from the home all day and upon returning, she frequented the medicine cabinet for some prescription drugs to retreat to her bedroom alone. Sims, Zach (October 12, 2006). "Library board votes to remove 2 books while policy for acquisitions developed". Marshall Democrat-News. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016 . Retrieved October 12, 2006.Thompson's illustrated avatar acts, at all times, with striking realism and the chaos of his thoughts is entirely believable—if not exactly illustrative of the average meditative development. The Thompson that frets and plays in Blankets—we'll call him Craig— is highly introspective and acts often in the heat of his youthful emotional turmoil, rather than from a simple, sensible motivation. And though one may often wish to chastise him for such sillinesses, his youthful passion and pendular over-reactions will more than likely endear Craig to readers as they recognize more than a little of themselves in him. I went to art school for one semester—that’s all I could afford—and I really appreciated and thrived in figure-drawing classes. I remember bringing those drawings home to my parents and they looked through them in quiet disgust. I was really proud of the work and I was like, “What do you think?” and they were like, “What can we say, Craig? It’s just a bunch of naked drawings.” You could tell they were disappointed. It's not all about love here. This memoir also gives you a great feel for Wisconsin in winter (cold), sibling rivalry (lots of urine), a sexually abusive babysitter (disgusting) and religious fundamentalist parents (thank God I didn't have them).

Phil: Craig's younger brother. Like Craig, he likes to draw, and the first portion of the story details their childhood together, though they later drift apart. Their adventures are also recalled at least once in each chapter throughout the book. Every year I teach this book in my YA course it comes up as one of the top three favorite texts in the course. I might go so far as to say it is one of the top ten or twenty graphic novels of all time. Powerful, gorgeous, touching, expressive, it’s among other things a meditation on first or young love, with sweeping and /or anguished art accomplished in the romantic tradition, with all the emotional highs and lows of young love. Thompson’s story might be described as autobiographical fiction; set in Wisconsin, where he grew up with his controlling parents and his brother Phil, art and fantasy (he calls it dreaming) and hangin' with his bro are his escapes. Then he meets a girl. At Christian Camp. Her name is Raina. She is beautiful and obviously really likes Craig. Being raised in a born-again family - which is well-portrayed in this book - is not a foreign concept to me. I've spoken before about how damaging the church's messages about sexuality are. We always think of women being oppressed, repressed, damaged, and unhappy as a result of this message, but as I wrote in my review of TAKE MY HAND, men and boys are very hurt and damaged as well. You talked about growing more cynical, but you still find ways to channel that youthful idealism, like seeing the universe through a little girl’s eyes in Space Dumplins .I also didn’t know that this book was going to be so focussed on religion and Craig’s struggle with his faith. I’m not religious but I find religion fascinating and a lot of my close friends are religious so I know how (hopefully) how to treat it with respect, even if I don't agree. I first read about Blankets in an article on the history of graphic novels, where it was mentioned as one of the signature examples of the form - along famous works such as Art Spiegelman's Maus (Interestingly, Spiegelman liked the book, and sent the author a congratulatory letter after publication). Blankets was offered as an example of a serious and important work, which helped define the term and give it meaning and significance - by telling a mature and largely autobiographical story it helped distance the graphic novel from a stereotype of a comic book for children. I've never read anything by Craig Thomson before, so when the opportunity presented itself I chose to take it and dove right in. Blankets is an autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson, published in 2003 by Top Shelf Productions. As a coming-of-age autobiography, the book tells the story of Thompson's childhood in an Evangelical Christian family, his first love, and his early adulthood. The book was widely acclaimed, with Time magazine ranking it #1 in its 2003 Best Comics list, and #8 in its Best Comics of the Decade.