"Drinking At The Movies" by Julia Wertz

"Drinking At The Movies" is a new graphic novel by Julia Wertz. I found it to be a really interesting graphic novel on several different levels.

First of all, one of the things we librarian types often talk about it is "what does YA mean?". Many books that are labeled as YA books seem to be more for the tween set. Some other YA books are very graphic and not at all what would be appropriate for a 13 year old.  It can be a tough category to figure out sometimes.  While reading "Drinking At The Movies" it struck me that perhaps this was a "real" young adult book. All of the characters are in their early 20's and are trying to figure out how to function and live in a grown up world. This is real life stuff as well. It is basically an autobiographical account of the authors move from San Francisco to New York City and trying to make it there. Much of the comic is about things like trying to find a cheap apartment, roommate issues, trying to find a job, boyfriends, drinking, problems with parents, a brother in rehab, and trying to figure out what to do in life. It may not sound particularly exciting but it's real and true to life. While reading about her trials and tribulations I found myself liking the author more and more as a person. By the end of the book I felt in a funny way like I had made a new friend.

I also found it to be a fascinating graphic novel because of the style of drawings Julia Wertz uses. It seems to be another example of a trend I've noticed in graphic novels that I'm still not sure how I feel about. In the past it seems like a "good" graphic novel had both an interesting story to tell, but was also beautifully drawn, so the pictures were just as interesting as the story. Harvey Pekar couldn't draw so he had his famous friends like Robert Crumb illustrate his graphic novels for him. "Maus", while being a little more primitive in the drawing style still had a style of it's own and was fascinating to look at. Joe Sacco, Jamie Hernandez, Daniel Clowes, and Chris Ware are all skilled artists. Julia Wertz, I'm afraid, doesn't seem to be in that league.

So when I first started reading "Drinking At The Movies" it threw me at first. The drawings seemed almost like something a child would draw. But I kept on getting drawn into the story. Julia Wertz may not be able to draw as well of some of the other graphic novelists out there, but she can tell a great story. In my opinion it was one of the best graphic novels I've read that was recently published.

Finally, the last thing that I found interesting was that in some many ways this is a 2.0 book. At the end there is a link to the Julia Wertz website. The website has archives of her older comics as well as newer ones she's written. I found myself spending hours reading her older comics that she's posted online and reading her new ones as well and getting up to date in her life. Her website also includes a blog and links to her Flikr page. I found it interesting to look at her Flickr account and see pictures of many of the people she mentions in the book. Her contact info is right there and she seems like the kind of person who might actually write back if you sent her a note.

So check out "Drinking At The Movies" if you would like to read a good "Young Adult" graphic novel that is true to life. Maybe you'll feel like you made a new friend as well.

Check out the Julia Wertz website.  Her current post is about libraries!

Have you ever read a book and felt in a funny way like you've made a new friend?