Underwire

September 26, 2011
Dysfunction needn’t always be the attendant of memoir, as Hayden shows in this slim collection of vignettes about middle-aged womanhood, some originally published as an ACT-I-VATE web comic. Hayden has two well-adjusted adolescent children and a husband still smitten with her. She dances, shops, and has chummy conversations with her daughter, Charlotte, who surprises her mother with her insight and maturity; her son, Kip, has overcome ADHD and attends a prestigious boarding school (and so plays much less of a role in Hayden’s stories)—the vignette in which Hayden laments the departure of her “little boy” of 14 shows much about the emotions of motherhood. Hayden’s cheerful profanity and scratchy lines give the work a homey, intimate feel. And with Hayden’s references to her “ancient self” and reminiscences about pot-fueled fantasies, there’s more than a dash of hippy sensibility. (“Mom, seriously,” her daughter admonishes her on a shopping trip, “the seventies are OVER.”) Even a story about a recurring dream of having murdered someone and being investigated by her children speaks of their affectionate relationship. Hayden’s stories are like comfortable, lived-in jeans—not the most stylish or flattering, but the ones you want to spend time wearing.

December 15, 2011
Haydena mother, wife, and daughterprovides a clear-eyed and good-natured glimpse into her own moods and expectations in this graphic novel. Chronologically arranged vignettes, each laid out in six black-ink panels per page, invite any reader willing to both giggle and sigh in close succession to share in her accessible world. We observe as she watches her 12-year-old daughter learn how to hold her temper; we feel her impatience when the kids won't go to sleep and let her drink and chat the night away with old girlfriends; and we can't help but identify with her view of aging, which isn't so much graceful as it is graced by good humor and undaunted optimism. Each perfect little drawing, composed without underlying pencil sketches, underscores Hayden's ability to seamlessly translate experiences from her mind's eye to ink on paper. In spite of its brevity and gentle approach (salted with mom-inappropriate swear words and occasional visions of big-bottomed, buxom Everywomen bursting from her imagination), this is a book with plenty of staying power.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)