Swallow Me Whole

September 29, 2008
Indy comic artist Powell, an Eisner-nominee, works full time with adults with developmental disabilities, which may have been an inspiration for Swallow Me Whole
, a stand-alone graphic novel about two teenage stepsiblings with psychological problems. Ruth suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and thinks she can hear insects speak, making it difficult for her to walk across grassy lawns but landing her a sweet internship in the natural history museum. Perry sometimes sees a tiny wizard who speaks to him about his destiny, which would be cute if this were a fantasy comic; instead, it's sadly tragic since Perry recognizes the wizard as nothing more than a troublesome hallucination. It should be obvious from the start that things will not end well. Dark inks and elongated whispering word balloons carry us into Ruth's world of voices and missing time, while experimental paneling masterfully conveys the characters' inner worlds and altered states. Powell's ultimate message remains unclear: is this a cautionary tale reminding ill teens to take their medication(s)? Or should we take a hopeful message away from Ruth's tragic story, knowing that one need not give in completely to one's delusions?

January 1, 2009
Gr 10 Up-Powell has created a complex tale of two adolescent step-siblings struggling through the usual angst and discovery that occur during the teenage years. However, for Ruth and Perry, mental illness makes this time even more difficult. Ruth, who is at the center of the story, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and patterns of schizophrenia. Infatuated with insects, she keeps collections of them in jars in her room and is constantly arranging and rearranging them. She hallucinates that masses of insects surround her and fears stepping on any living thing. For Ruth, the simplest tasks present huge challenges. Perry fights his own demon as he tries to rid himself of a small wizard who persistently appears and makes him draw. The author's treatment of mental illness is realistic and sensitive. Readers are brought into the experiences of the characters and empathize with them. The relationships Ruth and Perry have with each other and with other family members are honest and lovingly portrayed. Every word in this graphic novel is carefully chosen, dialogue is realistic, and background "noise" masterfully done. Powell's detailed pen-and-ink drawings are well executed with lettering and images so brilliantly intertwined that they are one and the same. While the complexity and subject matter of "Swallow Me Whole" will not appeal to everyone, those teens who pick it up will discover a poignant story."Lara McAllister, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2008
Powells most direct work to date doesnt abandon the fantastic elements that made Tiny Giants (2003) and It Disappeared (2005) so impressive. But those elements implications are easier to read. The swirling ether and clouds of insects thatengulf Ruth, and the little wizard who compels Perry to draw, bespeak mental illness. Ruth and Perry, stepsiblings and deep friends, are initially preadolescents visiting their grandmother in the hospital but from page 28 on are teenagers. Perry seems more disturbed early on, but by high school, Ruths obsessive-compulsiveness verges on schizophrenia. After she steals a huge frog while at her work-study job at a natural-history museum, Perry cant save her. The last pages show him apparently under the wizards spell again, feeding the frog. The grandmothers spirit warns him, as she had Ruth, that itll swallow you whole. Powells artwork supplies the magic, while the text, almost exclusively dialogue, much of it scribbled and smeared to reflect its accidental or willed inaudibility to Ruth or Perry, provides the realism in this darkly sublime graphic novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)