Review: Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland

A laugh-out-loud funny and empowering graphic memoir about growing up and finding your voice.

Twelve-year-old Cindy has just dipped a toe into seventh-grade drama—with its complicated friendships, bullies, and cute boys—when she earns an internship as a cub reporter at a local newspaper in the early 1970s. A (rare) young female reporter takes Cindy under her wing, and Cindy soon learns not only how to write a lede, but also how to respectfully question authority, how to assert herself in a world run by men, and—as the Watergate scandal unfolds—how brave reporting and writing can topple a corrupt world leader. Searching for her own scoops, Cindy doesn’t always get it right, on paper or in real life. But whether she’s writing features about ghost hunters, falling off her bicycle and into her first crush, or navigating shifting friendships, Cindy grows wiser and more confident through every awkward and hilarious mistake.

Based on the author-illustrator’s own experiences in the early 1970’s, Cynthia L. Copeland‘s Cub follows twelve-year-old Cindy- seventh grader and aspiring writer- as she makes her way through changing friendships, school bullies, young romance, and a life-changing internship as a cub reporter for her local newspaper in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Reports have a huge responsibility, especially now. Our country is in turmoil: chaos in the White House, a senseless war, environmental crises, women having to fight for equal rights…It’s up to us to make sure everyone has the information needed to make educated decisions.

After encouragement and assistance from her much-admired English teacher, Mrs. Schulz- and after answering all of her parents’ concerns- Cindy is given the opportunity to work as a cub reporter with a young female reporter from their local newspaper, the Torrington Register. Paired with the dedicated and driven Leslie Jacobs- who soon becomes a writing and career mentor- Cindy finds multiple aspects of her life transforming in numerous ways. On the reporting side of things, Cindy gets firsthand experiences in attending board of education meetings, town baking contests, tagging along to interviews, learning more about environmental movements, the fight for women’s rights, as well as getting to write up drafts of articles. As Cindy’s experiences with Leslie and reporting activities broaden, so too do facets of her personal life. Navigating tricky moments in changing friend groups, constant run-ins with an ensemble of spiteful bullies, as well as a sudden blossoming romance with a John Denver look-alike, Cindy’s life is pretty maxed out.

My dad is very protective of me. He wants me to be safe…
But he wants my brothers to be successful.

Copeland does such a fantastic job in Cub of successfully running parallel story lines: following Cindy not only as she becomes stronger and more confidant as a cub reporter and writer, but also simultaneously as young pre-teen/teen who becomes more self-assured, more vocal, who carves out her own friend group, and tackles even more personal aspirations. It makes for even more fascinating reading due to the fact that Cub takes place in the early 1970s, with Cindy and Leslie both witnessing, experiencing, recognizing and attempting to fight back against sexist expectations and the lack of women (and diverse representation in general) in reporting and the field of journalism. As Cub draws towards its end, the thread of empowerment running through the graphic novel gets especially and wonderfully loud, and makes for a truly satisfying finale on many levels. Be sure not to miss ‘Cindy’s 1970s Sketchbook‘ at the book’s end, as well as detailed Author’s Note and Acknowledgements for an even more complete and personal look at Cindy’s story in Cub.

With starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, as well as  praise from Boston Globe and Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Copeland’s graphic memoir arguably joins the ranks of thoroughly enjoyable, humorous and resonant coming-of-age graphic novels like Guts, Real Friends, Stargazing, All’s Faire in Middle School, and Be Prepared. Readers who cannot get enough of the work of creators such as Victoria Jamieson, and Raina Telgemeier will likely find much to savour, relate to, and appreciate about Copeland’s visually appealing, smart, perceptive and compelling graphic novel.

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Thomas Allen & Son in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own.

A blend of picture books, mystery and fiction…In no particular order, here they are:

1. Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin– a wordless picture book that I have been reading wonderful reviews about. Graegin’s illustrative work is lovely!

2. The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken– described as Zoom meets Beautiful Oops!, I’m looking forward to seeing this gorgeous-looking picture book in person.

3. I Don’t Draw, I Color! by Adam Lehrhaupt, illus. Felicita Sala– regular readers of my picture book posts might know I just adore Lehrhaupt’s work! As soon as I saw this latest one come up on Goodreads, it went right to my must-read.

4. I Hate Everyone, Except You by Clinton Kelly. Any other folks here who watched TLC’s What Not to Wear? I’ve read and really enjoyed Kelly’s previously published fashion/entertainment books (love his humour and snark). I Hate Everyone, Except You is a little bit different- this one is actually a memoir- a collection of personal essays- and it sounds fantastic.

5. Tales for the Perfect Child by Florence Parry Heide, with illustrations by Sergio Ruzzier– a new edition of Parry Heide’s classic. I feel as though I have read this, many years ago, but I just cannot recall! In any event, I’m looking forward to rediscovering (or discovering!) this book, and can’t wait to see Ruzzier’s illustrations!

The next four are titles I added to my TBR immediately after reading terrific reviews for in Publisher’s Weekly:

6. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot– a fascinatingly described non-fiction title

7. Find Me by J.S. Monroe– a right-up-my-alley kind of thriller…

8. The Girl from Rawblood by Catriona Ward– a gothic horror/mystery!

9. Say Nothing by Brad Parks– another taut thriller that sounds just like something I’d be interested in!

10. Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett– an unmissable cover, intriguing description and narrator? Yes, please!

What’s on your Top Ten Tuesday this week?

In no particular order, I present my picks for best of YA, adult fiction, and non-fiction of 2016:

Young adult:

Flannery by Lisa Moore
Dan Vs. Nature by Don Calame
Watching Traffic by Jane Ozkowski
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
Lucky Few by Kathryn Ormsbee
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Speed of Life by J.M. Kelly

Boys Don’t Knit series by Tom Easton
Julia, Vanishes (Witch’s Child #1) by Catherine Egan
The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace #1) by Erin Bow
Into the Dim (Into the Dim #1) by Janet B. Taylor

Adult fiction:

The Break by Katherena Vermette
The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall
My Last Continent by Midge Raymond
We’re All in This Together by Amy Jones

The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
The Widow by Fiona Barton
Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Non-fiction (including memoir, comics, humour):

Boy, Erased by Garrard Conley
Sex Object by Jessica Valenti (audiobook)
The Book of Memory Gaps by Cecilia Ruiz
I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short (audiobook)
Adulthood is a Myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection by Sarah Anderson

Molly and the Bear Collection by Bob Scott
Your Grandma Rocks, Mine Rolls: A Grand Avenue Collection by Steve Breen
Happy as a Clam: A Sherman’s Lagoon Collection by Jim Toomey
I’m Only in This for Me A Pearls Before Swine Collection by Stephan Pastis
Gross!: A Baby Blues Collection by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott

Note: Some titles appearing on this list may have been published in previous years; titles on this list are ones that I read in 2016. Some titles appearing on this list may also have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest reviews; this has no bearing on making this list. These are my personal selections.

The son of a Baptist pastor and deeply embedded in church life in small town Arkansas, as a young man Garrard Conley was terrified and conflicted about his sexuality.

When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure” him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends, and the God he had prayed to every day of his life. Through an institutionalized Twelve-Step Program heavy on Bible study, he was supposed to emerge heterosexual, ex-gay, cleansed of impure urges and stronger in his faith in God for his brush with sin. Instead, even when faced with a harrowing and brutal journey, Garrard found the strength and understanding to break out in search of his true self and forgiveness.

By confronting his buried past and the burden of a life lived in shadow, Garrard traces the complex relationships among family, faith, and community. At times heart-breaking, at times triumphant, this memoir is a testament to love that survives despite all odds.

During my reading of Garrard Conley’s impeccably written, penetrative and disturbing Boy Erased, I could not help but marvel at his overwhelmingly compassionate, calm voice. Here is a young man, writing about (among many other things), his shocking experience at an ex-gay conversion centre, dealing with the intense fall-out of being outed to his parents in the most horrific of circumstance, and through it all, Conley remains evenly introspective, sensitive…humane.

While indeed a big portion of the memoir focuses on Conley’s time at the ex-gay conversion program (Love in Action) he was forced to attend, Boy Erased also deals intensively with Conley’s struggle for finding his own self, understanding his parents, his/their beliefs, questioning his Missionary Baptist faith and almost everything he had been raised to believe in his deeply conservative Arkansas town. Conley’s two weeks in the institutional program, his experiences growing up, trying to fit in college, as well as his time following his Baptist pastor father’s work, are (for lack of a better word), staggering. Conley, however, remains elegant in his writing, no matter what or who is being written about, and no matter how damaging or malicious the person or actions.

Overall, Boy Erased is a lyrical, beautifully written memoir that shows compassion, hope and love persevering through interminable darkness and abuse. It is an eye-opening read that illuminates as much as it also illustrates a startling degree of intolerance deeply pervasive in the world. With high praise and solid reviews coming in a variety of journals, Conley has indeed done incredibly with his memoir, drawing a calm voice to abhorrent experiences. I would highly recommend Conley’s memoir to any interested non-fiction/memoir readers, or those who are more specifically looking to read more about identity, heteronormativity, equal rights (and lack thereof), faith, conservatism and sexuality.

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Penguin Random House Canada via Goodreads First Reads. All opinions and comments are my own.