Review: Giant Days, Volumes 1-5, by John Allison, et. al.

     Allison, John. (2015). Giant Days: Volume 1. Los
    Angeles: Boom! Box. 128 pages. ISBN 978-1608867899

     Allison, John. (2016). Giant Days: Volume 2. Los
    Angeles: Boom! Box. 128 pages. ISBN 978-1608868049

     Allison, John. (2016). Giant Days: Volume 3. Los
    Angeles: Boom! Box. 112 pages. ISBN 978-1608868513

     Allison, John. (2017). Giant Days: Volume 4. Los
    Angeles: Boom! Box. 112 pages. ISBN 978-1608869381

    Allison, John. (2017). Giant Days: Volume 5. Los
    Angeles: Boom! Box. 128 pages. ISBN 978-1608869824

Ages: Young Adult - Teen, 10th Grade +

Confession Time: 
So, here is where we are going to change things up a bit. I've been stuck in a rut with my book and media reviews, posting infrequently, at best, for the last four years. It was definitely not because I stopped reading, cruising the internet, listening to music or watching movies and television (that's just not going to happen. HA!), but mostly due to the fact that I found the format that I have been using for years (thank you graduate school) to be really tedious. (And we are just going to skip over the sad state of my computer.) Sure it had all the "required elements" but it had no heart or personality, and I think, outlived it's usefulness and relevance.

Now, I'm re-starting this on-going project with a more organic flow, which may develop and evolve as time goes on. That's as it should be and the very same nature as literature and library science.

Now, without further ado: Giant Days!

Background:
While on social media, one of my friends, who works with kids, asked for some book recommendation. Being that my initial specialty in library school was children's services, I opened my big fat mouth, which she accepted with grace and an open mind. She and another of her friends got into a conversation about Giant Days, and as soon as the words "graphic novel" were uttered, I immediately began searching the grand internet to learn more.

Graphic novels are not only AMAZING for reluctant readers, they're also great for readers of all levels who are very visually oriented, myself  included. I have had a love affair with comic books since I was very young, reading Casper, Wendy the Witch, and Archie in the back of my dad's truck on our way through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks.

Shortly thereafter, I had Giant Days, Volumes 1-5 reserved through my local library and promptly consumed all 5 volumes in roughly 5 days, and the only reason it took that long was because of your standard work day and adult responsibilities.

In searching for the ISBN numbers for this review, I found that this originally started out in 2011 as a web comic! Where have I been?!! In 2015 it was put in print by Boom Box!, a division of Boom! Industries, who puts out other graphic novel titles that I have read in the past and more that I will be reading the future. It appears that there are now 40 issues of Giant Days out there and I will definitely be checking out more of John Allison's work. I also want to note that it looks like all five issues were illustrated by Max Sarin but inked and colored by some other folks, like Liz Fleming and Whitney Cogar. Comics and graphic novels often have different illustrators, inkers and colorists from issue to issue.

Review:
Giant Days follows three girls, as different as could possibly be, rooming together in their first year of university (that's college for you non-Brits. That's right, they're British.). Susan is a ballsy, wordly, tough, well spoken med student, with a penchant for "burning bridges" and activism, who looks like she "dresses in the dark." Esther is gorgeous, gothy, naive, and privileged with the worst judgment but a heart of gold. Daisy is kind, even more naive than Esther, optimistic, wholesome, multi-racial, responsible, raised by her grandmother and coming to terms with being gay, but in a very laid back, matter-of-fact way that is totally refreshing in literature. I wish sexual orientation and identity were that easily accepted, seamlessly, in the rest of the real world.

There are misadventures with money, housing, boyfriends (the mustached McGraw who is a human fix-it machine) and girlfriends, unrequited love (poor Ed Gemmel), home towns, jobs, class, school scandals, sex, break-ups, drugs, sleep-deprivation, intrigue, music, grades, old friends and parents; seemingly every possible scenario that one can experience in their first year of college and then some. Through it all, you will see Susan, Esther and Daisy grow together as a unit, always there for each other, learning, growing, maturing together, accepting each other for who they are and defending and protecting one another, while hilarity and misadventure ensues. I routinely find myself laughing out loud and have reserved all the remaining volumes that my library has...which is far too few, in my honest opinion.

In each issue, I find myself thinking "I am so much like Esther," only to turn two more pages and think to myself, " No, I am so much like Susan," only to find that I am just like Daisy, too. I long for the relationship they have, where no matter what situation they find themselves in they can count on one another, even when they don't think they should. I am jealous of these beautifully drawn, edgy ladies! Lessons that it took me years and years to learn, all on my own, these ladies learned in one short year, and had the shelter of their own friendship to depend on when times got rough, even when it seemed like the world was caving in, no matter how over-dramatically.

Bottom line, I am so glad I stumbled upon this series and I absolutely love to read it. I get anxious when I finish one volume, because I can't wait to read the next one! While I think this is a great read for girls of this age, since those are the protagonists demographic, I think it is very relevant to boys and adults of all genders. They find themselves in experiences that we all go through, that these kids will find themselves in and these colorful characters do it with so much more grace and humor than I have seen, or that I certainly had at that age. I wish I had been able to read about these situations before they blindsided me when I was younger. Many beginning college students feel very isolated, and overwhelmed. Giant Days really shows that things, no matter how bad they seem, can always turn out better, even when we think they won't. Even in sad chapters, there is a silver lining, or a piece of humor that shows these experiences as what they are....life lessons and periods of growth, which almost everyone will go through. Giant Days reminds the reader that they are never alone, and their tribe is out there, and they're probably cornier and even more eccentric and endearing than could possibly be imagined. Never give up hope, and never stop laughing.