Lighter Than My Shadow

September 18, 2017
Green looks back at a long struggle with anorexia in this hard-hitting graphic memoir, originally published in the U.K. Childhood fears led Green to develop rituals and routines to feel safe, which began to affect her eating habits (“Chew four times on the left... four times on the right... then two sips of water”). As Green grew into a teenager, these rituals—combined with her academic rigor and a barrage of offhand comments about her body—evolved into a focus on control and discipline in her eating, leading to extreme weight loss and professional intervention after she passes out at school. Minimal dialogue and narration keep the focus on Green’s grayscale artwork, which viscerally reflects how Green saw herself while in the grips of her eating disorder. Her body appears grotesquely distended in some scenes, she imagines slicing her thighs thinner with a cleaver in others; a scribbly black cloud is a constant presence, reflecting the inner voices she can’t escape. As the story moves into Green’s college years and beyond, she finds balance amid many setbacks but never sugarcoats the difficult and ongoing nature of recovery. Ages 14–up.