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6th out of 63 books
—
45 voters
Awkward and Definition: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag
by
Ariel Schrag (Goodreads Author)
Ariel Schrag captures the American high school experience in all its awkward, questioning glory in Awkward and Definition, the first of three amazingly honest autobiographical graphic novels about her teenage years.
During the summer following each year at Berkeley High School in California, Ariel wrote a comic book about her experiences, which she would then photocopy and...more
During the summer following each year at Berkeley High School in California, Ariel wrote a comic book about her experiences, which she would then photocopy and...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
April 1st 2008
by Touchstone
(first published 1997)
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Nothing amps the saturation levels of my vanilla teen years like a coming-of-age collection of comics by someone similarly aged who knew what strawberry bidis were as a ninth grader. Me, age 37, Googling. A: Something to smoke.
Ariel Schrag’s collection “Awkward and Definition” is the story of her ninth and tenth grade years at Berkeley High School in California. Themes include music, her crushes -- both male and female, a rotating cast of friends and makeout partners and the sort of dramatics t...more
Ariel Schrag’s collection “Awkward and Definition” is the story of her ninth and tenth grade years at Berkeley High School in California. Themes include music, her crushes -- both male and female, a rotating cast of friends and makeout partners and the sort of dramatics t...more
Ariel Schrag wrote diary comics of her experiences during high school. The first two books are combined in this volume. Awkward is when she was in 9th grade and Definition when she was in 10th grade.
I had heard of Ariel and her work previously. I was inspired to read this book, when Ariel appeared in a Gabrielle Bell comic on Gabrielle's blog.
I have to say I was quite impressed with Ariel's comics, especially for such a young person. Her writing is clear and engaging. Her drawings are fun and e...more
I had heard of Ariel and her work previously. I was inspired to read this book, when Ariel appeared in a Gabrielle Bell comic on Gabrielle's blog.
I have to say I was quite impressed with Ariel's comics, especially for such a young person. Her writing is clear and engaging. Her drawings are fun and e...more
I approached Ariel Schrag’s Awkward and Definition with a little bit of trepidation. Earlier this year I made the proclamation that I was going to read one graphic novel a week, and since I’m an equally-opportunity reader I went in search of female authors. Since, I’ve already read Persepolis and Fun Home I had to do a little digging. It seems that whenever people mention female graphic novelists, those are the two that get mentioned the most.
In my research I stumbled upon Ariel Schrag’s high sc...more
In my research I stumbled upon Ariel Schrag’s high sc...more
Comes a time when authoring a completely objective book review becomes all-but-impossible. Awkward and Definition came to me as a gift to myself; having picked up Ariel Schrag's Likewise recently (but not yet having read it), my breath caught in my throat when I spotted this collection of her earlier work - work which I had not previously known to exist until I saw it lying in the wrong place at a local bookstore. So then, why does writing an honest, unbiased review of this particular book becom...more
Man I did not enjoy this at all. It's basically the diary of a 15 year old girl going to high school in Berkeley, CA. Perhaps if you've been a 15 year old girl or you went to high school in Berkeley, CA, this might be more appealing. But to me it came off as utterly banal. She's into L7, she crushes out on boys, she goes to gym class. There's nothing revelatory or particularly insightful-- it reads like what it is, a teenage diary. (Think "teenage girl squad" from Homestarrunner -- "I have a cru...more
ARIEL SCHRAG.
So I'd already read Definition, checked this out mostly for Awkward and was like - I won't read Definition again, will I? But then, I just couldn't stop. Schrag captures perfectly how wonderful and awful and adventurous and joyful high school is. How meaningful and messy friendships can be. How music runs your life. How even when nothing much happens, so much is happening. Awkward leads into Definition so well, I'm going to be forced to purchase her 11th and 12th grade years.
Also, h...more
So I'd already read Definition, checked this out mostly for Awkward and was like - I won't read Definition again, will I? But then, I just couldn't stop. Schrag captures perfectly how wonderful and awful and adventurous and joyful high school is. How meaningful and messy friendships can be. How music runs your life. How even when nothing much happens, so much is happening. Awkward leads into Definition so well, I'm going to be forced to purchase her 11th and 12th grade years.
Also, h...more
although Schrag's command of the line does not approach the Superflat perfection of Tomine, and her total quantity of story may not yet reach Watterson or Johnston, this rising young star somehow manages to hit the sweet-spot of high academic high school, girl-on-girl love self-discovery teenage angst, advanced college-level biology, No Doubt-before-they-were-famous, and SF Bay area ennui that somehow is the perfect portrait of smart kids circa 1999 in an upper-middle class suburb.
this is a work...more
this is a work...more
These 2 graphic novels are the story of the author's first 2 years in high school. In them she goes to one rock concert or another, gets stoned at one person or another's house, has crushes on indie rock boys and goth girls and Juliette Lewis, and other such things. Though I find most of the stories a little boring, I really think her drawings are cute. They keep me coming back. And she's still young- I feel like when her authorial voice matures she'll be my favorite autobiographical graphic nov...more
If you're a post-punk 90's-early 2000's era kid like I was you're going to gravitate with this graphic novel. Especially if you're a feminist with bisexual tendencies. The band and comic dropping throughout is an added bonus! (Jhonen Vasquez, Hole,L7, Marilyn Manson, NIN, No Doubt, Bush.)
Ariel Schragg has the balls to tell the truth about her young teenage life with brutal,unflattering honesty. Not many people can write in such a lighthearted way about their teenage years and failed threesomes...more
Ariel Schragg has the balls to tell the truth about her young teenage life with brutal,unflattering honesty. Not many people can write in such a lighthearted way about their teenage years and failed threesomes...more
Spectacular. I can't believe she wrote so honestly about her life in her comic and then distributed copies of it to her classmates. That is bold. I'm also supremely jealous of her parents, all letting her stay out late and go to shows at 14 and 15. My parents got stricter and stricter and it so frustrated me all the time. I imagine one would have a lot more time to channel one's creativity into projects like an autobiographical comic book if one were not spending most of one's time fighting with...more
May 26, 2013
Virginia
added it
I find these books particularly interesting for a few reasons. I also kept a diary throughout middle- and high-school, though I never drew comics, so I can relate to Ariel's need to maintain records. Her obsessions with people and music and everything are so painfully reminiscent of the teenage years of myself and my friends. What I find interesting in a kind of outside-in way is all of the casual alcohol and drug use. I didn't do any of that in high school, so it's almost like reading the diary...more
Where was this book when I was in high school, despite the fact that Ariel is older than I am? 10 years later, reading about how awkward it was for a queer punk girl going through high school still amuses me. Most notable is the visible progression in her drawings, but Ariel's raw narrative also shows readers how carving out our own unique niches allows definition: glimmer of hope
Given that Schrag did this in highschool, it's not bad, but not great either. Her art gets better as the story progresses, so I'm interested to see what the other volumes are like. But with that said, it's the musings of a teenage girl, so it gets a little much sometimes. It did cause me to check out a lot of riot girl type bands, though.
Started slow/took me awhile to get into it. The style is very busy, a bit too busy for my taste. The frames are irregularly sized and spaced, in a way that seems not calculated but freestyled. It seems like Ariel became a more skilled artist over the course of the book. I am looking forward to reading Potential
An autobiographical graphic-novel account of the author's first 2 years in high school, written around that time. It has a revolving-door cast of characters, is very, very honest (to a Too Much Information extent), and is chock-full of references to mid-90's teen culture. Quite fun to read.
I've always liked what I've seen from Ariel Schrag, but I had a hard time tracking down back issues of her works. Thankfully they've finally collected Awkward & Definition, and Potential. This collection covers her early high school years and is just an honest look into what being a teenage girl is like at that age. Ariel is a hardcore music fan and has several serious crushes/obsessions, and I could definitely relate to that. Her relationship trials and struggles with school definitely brou...more
I would give Awkward 4 stars and Definition 2, but since they're combined I averaged it. Definition would've been as good as Awkward, except for Schrag's annoying insistence on shoving the word "definition" into every page. Still, both were pretty fun and I'm looking forward to reading about her final two years of high school.
Feb 13, 2009
Melody
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
PAG Maudies
Recommended to Melody by:
Wendy
Splendid graphic novels covering Schrag's freshman & sophomore years in high school. Mindblowingly well-done. The drawings are wonderful, the dialogue rings achingly true, and the cast of characters is great fun indeed.
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Good. It was interesting to compare and contrast my first year in high school to Ariel's, which were 8 years apart. I look forward to reading about the rest of her high school experience, in Potential and Likewise.
I did like this indie little comic, but its not life-changing. It's a bit repetitive and non-eventful. I would like to read some of her latter work but I am glad I borrowed this from the library.
It's hard to knock the art work for these to books since Ariel Schrag made them when she was in high school. Awkward is... pretty awkward. But Definition makes the book well worth the money.
I like her and I should like this. The whole series is just too choppy- too many characters, too many unfinished storylines. But I like its attitude. Maybe I just envy her high school experience?
Reading Ariel Schrag makes me really mad I didn't write about what was actually happening in high school when I was actually existing in high school.
(read: 140)
(read: 140)
Cool graphic novel about Ariel's 9th and 10th grade years. Fun and quick to read. Her depictions of early experimentation with sexuality and substances were spot on, and she was a cool kid. Loved her obsessions with L7 and Juliette Lewis.
May 05, 2009
Aneesa
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who are 29 years old, or live in Berkeley
Shelves:
comics-graphic-novels
Hard to believe I hadn't read this book before, and I think I know why now... she was way cooler than me in high school. But her slang has weird syntax.
Alright, nowhere near as good as Potential.
I love Ariel Schrag but I can't give it 5 stars because it has teeny tiny, handwritten lettering which is my #1 graphic novel peeve.
enjoyable, although as a high-schooler's vision of high school it feels a bit like cinema verite without a purpose. I did like it, though.
1st book in high school series... sometimes i think it would be best for me to redo high school. the right way.
I used to read Ariel Schrag's comics back when I was actually in high school. It's disturbing how evocative they still are.
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Ariel Schrag was born in Berkeley, California in 1979. She is the author of the autobiographical graphic novels Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise, which chronicle her four years at Berkeley High School. The books are published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.
Potential, which was nominated for an Eisner Award, is being developed into a major motion picture by Killer Films (Boys Don’t...more
More about Ariel Schrag...
Potential, which was nominated for an Eisner Award, is being developed into a major motion picture by Killer Films (Boys Don’t...more
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