Page by Paige: A Graphic Novel

by Laura Lee Gulledge

Overview

Page by Paige is a coming-of-age graphic novel by Laura Lee Gulledge, the story of a teenage girl trying to find herself after moving to a new home.

Paige Turner has just moved to New York with her family, and she’s having some trouble adjusting to the big city. In the pages of her sketchbook, she tries to make sense of her new life, including trying out her secret identity: artist. As she makes friends and starts to explore the city, she slowly brings her secret identity out into the open, a process that is equal parts terrifying and rewarding.

Laura Lee Gulledge crafts stories and panels with images that are thought-provoking, funny, and emotionally resonant. Teens struggling to find their place can see themselves in Paige’s honest, heartfelt story.

“Gulledge’s b&w illustrations are simple but well-suited to their subject matter; the work as a whole is a good-natured, optimistic portrait of a young woman evolving toward adulthood.” —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810997226
Publisher:	Abrams Fanfare
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	497,144
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Laura Lee Gulledge is the author of the graphic novels Will & Whit and Page by Paige, which was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Award. She is also a teaching artist as seen through her interactive book Sketchbook Dares: 24 Ways to Draw Out Your Inner Artist. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up—When 16-year-old Paige is transplanted from Virginia to Brooklyn, her sketchbook is her only friend. She commits to draw a few pages each week, "No more excuses." This is her vehicle for self-exploration as she finds her place in a new environment. Her sketchbook spans a period of eight months and is divided into a set of nine "rules," and includes images of herself and her quest to answer the question, "Who am I?" The journal chronicles her developing friendships, a budding romance, her relationship with her mother, and her increasing ability to take risks and to explore new means of expressing herself. The book's trim size allows for ample visual expression and development of concepts. Realistic black-and-white drawings and excellent use of panel size, placement, and pacing add to the book's appeal. Gulledge is a master of both words and images. She brilliantly portrays poignant emotions: twisting ink falling from Paige's head as she searches for ideas, carrying her heart through an expanse of banana peels, her sneakers in a crowd of Ugg boots, a mouth stitched shut, and her silhouette from the rooftop with the Big Dipper appearing to fall from her hand—all make her loneliness palpable. Gulledge's turns of phrase are equally intriguing. Terms such as "agents of whimsy," "clickage," and "fluent in Paige" give equal weight to both imaginative text and image. The illustration for "I am a redhead island" is spot-on. This self-deprecating, humorous, and heartfelt story will resonate with readers.—Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

School Library Journal

A transplanted teen looking to let out her inner artist adjusts to living in the Big Apple with her family. Charming black-and-white art with creative excursions into visual metaphor.

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Library Journal

Artist and teacher Gulledge's debut graphic novel features young Paige Turner, who, like Gulledge, is a Virginian transplanted to New York. Unexpectedly stripped of her comfortable social network and dropped into an unfamiliar context, Paige finds herself reconstructing her disrupted life; New York provides her with a rich source of novel experiences, new friends, and even her first romance as Paige explores who it is that she wants to become. Paige's story is a familiar, perhaps universal, tale of self-discovery and transformation. Although New York is quite different from the region where Paige grew up, Gulledge eschews an antiurban approach, preferring to see in New York that quintessentially American city, a grand, intricate setting fit for a coming-of-age story. Gulledge's b&w illustrations are simple but well-suited to their subject matter; the work as a whole is a good-natured, optimistic portrait of a young woman evolving toward adulthood. Ages 12–up. (May)

Publishers Weekly

A sweet coming-of-age graphic novel about an artistic introvert. Sixteen-year-old Paige Turner (a product of writer parents, though that still doesn't forgive the somewhat cruel moniker) is a recent transplant to Brooklyn from rural Virginia. Lonely and aloof, she decides to take her passion—art—to a new level and follow the rules that her grandmother (also an artist) lived by. Paige luckily falls in with a group of similarly artistic kids, and they become a tight circle. In this bunch, Paige meets Gabe, a handsome young writer whose love for the written word rivals her love for art. The group spends their days wandering the city, improvising thoughtful, random acts of art that they hope will touch those around them. In a story-within-a-story, readers are made privy to Paige's sketchbook, exposing with her innermost thoughts, even as they join her quest for identity and belonging. Paige's sketches are soft and expressive, and Gulledge does an admirable job of providing insight into Paige's musings, creating a very intimate ambiance for this well-fleshed-out character. The artist masterfully commands her piece, creating a cohesive and fluid work that cascade smoothly along. Teens are sure to relate to this wallflower who blooms—gloriously. (Graphic fiction. 13 & up)

Kirkus Reviews