The Greatest Thing

December 13, 2021
Searle’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel covers teen relationships, mental health, art-making, and disordered eating with crackling specificity. In 2002, Winifred Cunningham is an anxious white 10th grader whose closest friends have recently transferred to other schools. Win, who is self-conscious about eating in front of others, “trick” her body “into forgetting it was hungry by making it sick instead” at night and stays awake worrying. But she soon befriends wealthy, enthusiastic April, cued as white and nonbinary, and poetic, pansexual Oscar, who has brown skin. The three share a love of art and struggle with self-esteem, and they find an outlet by creating a zine, Gutterglimmers, which evolves over the course of the story, conveyed in full issues accompanied by zine-making instructions. With help from her empathic mom, meds, and a guidance counselor, Win eventually takes self-expression from the pages of her zine to real life, and finally reciprocates the overtures of a welcoming friend. Spare illustrations with a limited palette add to a visually and emotionally satisfying read about escaping depression and loneliness through art-making. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Linnan, Linnan Literary Management.

November 15, 2021
A young woman is apprehensive about starting the school year after her two closest friends move to a different school. Introverted, talented, and filled with self-doubt, Winifred is the focus of this simply drawn story; uncluttered panels and an appealing, muted color scheme let her introspective narration take center stage. She loves drawing and photography, gets middling grades in some of her classes, and is self-conscious about her weight--to the point that she has begun to eat foods she knows make her sick (she is lactose intolerant) as a sort of self-punishment. Set in the Portland, Maine, area in the early 2000s, the storyline follows Winifred as she makes new friends: She becomes especially close to April, who also has an eating disorder and whose wealthy parents are emotionally absent, and Oscar, who struggles with depression. Winifred and Oscar work together on a zine that is featured in its entirety in four parts. Initially, Winifred thinks she may be interested in Oscar, but she later realizes she is really attracted to a girl named Tilly. Set in an era when landline phones were still in use, the story explores sexuality, mental health, and the messiness that goes with understanding of self in ways that will resonate with contemporary readers. Varied visual perspectives, clean linework, and easy-to-read speech bubbles contribute to the pleasurable reading experience. Winifred and April read as White; Oscar and Tilly have brown skin. A poignant, honest, and deeply engaging work. (Graphic fiction. 12-18)

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February 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Winifred feels alone at her high school until two kids in her art class--Oscar and April--notice how good she is at drawing. Though she's filled with insecurity, never feeling cool enough or thin enough to be worth the attention, their friendship steadily grows, thanks in large part to the zine they make together, three installments of which are included within. Over the course of the book, Winifred slips further into her depression, enduring disordered eating and self-harm, but she gradually gets help from supportive friends (some in surprising places), her mother, and a therapist. In her crisp, precise art, Searle deftly depicts the emotions of her characters, largely through their expressive body language; Winifred's slumped shoulders as she curls into herself are easily worth a thousand words. Though there are a lot of threads to follow, in Winifred's journey as well as that of her friends, this is a sensitive, compassionate portrayal of teenage mental health struggles that emphasizes the importance of community, self-acceptance, and finding the courage to ask for help.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 16, 2022
The Greatest Thing is a graphic novel about friendship and self-actualisation, with a dash of queer romance. Semi-autobiographical in nature, it’s set in America in 2002 where Winifred (Searle) meets Oscar and April—kindred spirits in self-hatred. Together they channel their feelings into a collaborative zine which, in a beautiful use of the graphic novel format, Searle shows the reader every page of. The Greatest Thing delicately handles heavy themes, including depression, self-harm, disordered eating, learning difficulties and gender questioning in an unsupportive family environment. Searle makes good use of the graphic novel format to temper this emotionally intense content with backgrounds in soothing pastel tones and intimate, close-up shots of the characters supporting each other and accessing professional help. Throughout the novel Searle includes exposition from adult Winifred, reminding the reader that The Greatest Thing is just one year within a whole lifetime. Some readers may find this reassuring, especially given the themes that are explored, while others may find it interrupts the narrative immersion. Fittingly, the ending of The Greatest Thing is both sad and hopeful—this is not a story about the power of everlasting friendship, but a homage to the friendships that are impactful even when they are fleeting. Although thematically similar to Heartstopper, tonally, The Greatest Thing is best suited to fans of This One Summer and teens aged 13–15.  Jordi Kerr is a freelance reviewer and youth literature advocate, and a support worker for the LGBTIQA+ community.