The Emotionary

October 3, 2016
Sher, best known for her role as middle child Sue Heck on the sitcom The Middle, debuts with a mordant assemblage of more than 150 portmanteau words, designed to alleviate “dyscommunicatia,” aka “the inability to articulate an emotion through words.” Definitions, pronunciations, and root words (“name + amnesia” creates “namenesia,” “forgetting someone’s name literally one second after they’ve introduced themselves”) accompany each word. Wertz (Museum of Mistakes) fleshes out several words’ meanings in b&w comics, starring herself and Sher, that aren’t afraid to get a little grisly: blood, guts, and disembodied limbs go flying after an “irredependent” Sher collapses under the weight of a heavy box, having refused Wertz’s assistance. Sher freely admits that the collection is born out of her own neuroses and communication struggles, and most chapters deal in recognizable moments of self-doubt, social anxiety, and introversion; a final chapter explores “fleeting moments of happiness,” including feeling relievedly “cancelated” when plans fall through. For emotionally “idiovated” readers, this is a wry reminder that they aren’t the only ones who feel that way. Ages 12–up. Author’s agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor. Illustrator’s agent: Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management.

Words, emotions, and two irreverent senses of humor collide in Sher and Wertz's (Drinking at the Movies, 2015, etc.) debut book for teens.For all those whose frustration at being unable to name a particular emotion has ever overtaken the emotion they are unable to name, this clever lexicon is here to provide relief. In a witty if occasionally inelegant alignment of form and function, the author's collection of imaginative portmanteaus (and one acronym), such as "irredependent" (irrational + independent) and "castrapolate" (catastrophe + extrapolate), pay homage to the complexity of feelings. Meanwhile, with humor just this side of ribald, Wertz's comic-strip illustrations demonstrate that, while emotional complexity can elude definition, it is just as universal to the human condition as birth, death, and forgetting people's names as soon as they've introduced themselves ("namenesia"). Situated somewhere between Urban Dictionary and a beginner's guide to anxiety and introversion, the book highlights the importance of emotional literacy but stops short of addressing emotional competence, relying instead on the audience's developed sense of irony to understand the validity of the newly named feelings while also managing to recognize any unhealthy emotional practices. Emotionally beleaguered teen and adult readers who overlook the book's juvenile packaging will find both clarity and camaraderie in its definitions. (Nonfiction. 15 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.