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Skim
148 pages
A moody, beautifully illustrated dive into the messy, cynical, and deeply vulnerable heart of 90s teenage angst.
What it feels like
Reading this graphic novel feels like unearthing a secret diary from 1993, full of sharp observations, quiet devastations, and the heavy, suffocating air of a private girls' school. The narrative drifts with a meandering, introspective pace, perfectly capturing the aimless, heavy feeling of adolescent depression and the sudden, sharp jolt of a queer awakening. The text is sparse and wry, allowing the sweeping, expressive brushstrokes to carry the emotional weight of unspoken longing and isolation. It is a deeply atmospheric experience, steeped in autumnal melancholy and the performative grief of high school cliques. This is a perfect read for anyone who loves indie comics that refuse to neatly resolve the messy, painful, and beautiful complexities of growing up.
- Mood
- moody
- autumnal
- claustrophobic
- nostalgic
- Tone
- wry
- cynical
- introspective
- vulnerable
- melancholic
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- queer awakening · adolescent isolation · performative grief · messy first love · shifting friendships
- The writing
- Sparse, diary-like, and sharply observant, blending teenage cynicism with raw, poetic vulnerability that perfectly complements the sweeping, expressive artwork.
- The arc
- Moves from cynical, defensive isolation through the confusing turbulence of an inappropriate crush, landing on a fragile but hopeful sense of self-acceptance.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave moody, character-driven indie comics that capture the exact, painful texture of being a queer, outsider teen in the 90s.
Content notes
- suicide
- depression
- inappropriate teacher-student relationship
- homophobia
- underage drinking
About the book
"Skim" is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth who goes to a private girls' school in the early '90s. When her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself — possibly because he's (maybe) gay — the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It's a weird time to fall in love, but that's what happens to Skim when she starts meeting secretly with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But then Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, and Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation while her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into "real" life by setting up a hilarious double-date for the school's semi formal.
Suicide, depression, love, homosexuality, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers — the whole gamut of teen life is explored in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being 16.
Description from Open Library.
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