Blankets by Craig Thompson

This graphic novel by Craig Thompson is painstaking, lovingly done. He is a master of his art, telling stories through lyrical language and images.
Blankets is his story, a memoir about a childhood that was often painful, an awkward and lonely adolescence, and his first love, unabashadly portraying sexual abuse, poverty, questioning of one's identity and beliefs, sexual development, and learning how to love. This bildungsroman's chronicles his rivalry and playful love of his younger brother, his first heart-break, and Thompson's slow and gradual break from the strict Protestant faith he was raised in.

For high-school students, I would recommend permission slips: swearing, nudity, sexual content, and alienation from religion.

Recommended! Also, check out www.dootdootgarden.com, Thompson's online blog.