Lynda Barry
One Hundred Demons! (2002)
Author: Lynda Barry
Genre: Graphic Album (Fictional Autobiography)
Plot Summary:
Lynda Barry's One Hundred Demons is divided into 20 sections of partly autobiographical and partly fictional stories about her life, meant to be read by adults. These sections each describe a demon that she did (or possibly didn't) experience. Many of these involve stories of her childhood. For example, the story about head lice describes her experiences with head lice as a child, then compares having head lice to having a bad boyfriend later in her life. Many of the stories follow her difficult childhood living with an unstable mother, then following the awkward stages in middle and high school, followed by her revelations as an adult. The story about dancing follows her time as a child when she loved to take hula lessons. In junior high, she was made fun of because she was a bad dancer and refused to dance in front of people for years. Later, she realized once she became an adult that dancing was fun and that she regrets not dancing for so many years. Quirky characters such as her chain-smoking Filipino grandmother (who reappears in most stories ) try to give her guidance but are flawed themselves. One Hundred Demons encourages readers to examine their own childhoods and their own flaws, while proving humorous insights into these flaws. The book ends with Barry giving the reader information on how to draw their own demons.
Geographical Setting: An unknown city in the United States
Time Period: 1960s-Present (2002)
Appeal Characteristics:
One Hundred Demons has won several awards, both in the categories of graphic album (Eisner Award, 2003) and graphic novel (Publisher's Weekly Award, 2003) as well as literary fiction (Alex Award, 2003). In other words, this book is hard to define, although I believe it to be more of a graphic album rather than a graphic novel. Readers of many types of fiction have expressed interest in this book. The first thing that would appeal to readers is the colorful and intricate artwork that encompass every page. These pictures help to accurately describe the story behind the few words and make this an easy and engrossing book to read. Only a few quirky characters are followed throughout the book, but those seem familiar because they are so lifelike. The storyline is not complex, but each story does have a different issues, or demon, that it explores. The plot that follows the demon is the most important part of the book, although many of these plots are unresolved. Overall, this novel is thought-provoking, causing the reader to think about love, adolescence, and identity. Barry uses light-hearted pictures to balance a darker tone that describes the demons. A few of the stories have a heartwarming ending, while others end on more of a bleak note. Readers will find elaborate tales hidden behind detailed drawings and simple dialog.
Read-alikes: The Greatest of Marlys, also by Lynda Barry, follows a comic strip about a gifted girl named Marlys and her troubles during childhood. Barry's colorful artwork continues in this novel. A Child's Life and Other Stories by Phoebe Gloeckner is an autobiographical graphic novel deals with sexual victimization and abusive parents that present a similar but darker novel than One Hundred Demons. Another autobiographical graphic novel that would make a good read-alike is Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi that follows the stories told by three generations of Iranian women as they take tea and talk about men, love, and sex. A book that might appeal to readers that find unusual children's books interesting is Totally Joe by James Howe. Totally Joe is about a gay teenage boy that endures harsh times at his school from friends and school board members when he is seen kissing another boy. This is not written as a graphic novel, but as an alphabiography from A to Z. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Volume 2 by Harold Sakuishi also deals with teenagers who live in a world where they don't feel like they fit in. Yukio is in a rock band in Japan who worships a girl named Izumi, but is too scared to approach her. Beck is written as a manga and translated from Japanese.
Red Flags: Some references to drug use, sexual situations, and child abuse
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