Here’s the next installment of my foray into the realm of graphic novels. They are super popular in my house and the reading community right now. I only wish I had the ability to convey the awkwardness, the angry, the hopes and plans. But these sketches will have to do.
There’s not a lot of self-confidence going around in sixth grade. Being judged and evaluated on a skill I took so much pride in really took a toll on my esteem. I was pretty darn proud of my fifth grade reading award.
Some of the things that happened in sixth grade still stick with me. I’m not sure why I remember the tough moments so much more than the happy ones, because I’m sure there were happy moments. I was a happy kid, because that’s who I am.
To be honest, I’m grateful for these moments, because no one wants to read a graphic novel about a perfect adolescence, do they? And maybe the awkwardness of the so-called art is the perfect way to convey how rough some of those moments were.
So sixth grade was awkward. And as you can read from my little cartoon, I didn’t take too kindly to being put in the lowest reading group. But you know, I can’t even remember what book we were asked to read. I only remember fixating on the book that the advanced readers were given. It was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I just read that book in 2016. It was a nice book, but not the most moving story I’ve ever read. It took some time, but I think reading the book gave me some peace.
Seventh
Seventh grade gave me a chance to redeem my literary ambitions. Working with my seventh grade teacher I created the school’s first ever literary magazine. Maybe that humbling experience in sixth grade was exactly what a budding, hopeful author needed.