Ms. Dickinson's Purple & Gold Pick of the Week: Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

If you've ever started at new school or moved to a new town--or a new country, you know how difficult it can be to start over and find your place in unfamiliar surrounding. Moving from rural Virginia to New York City is an especially big change—particularly for shy artist Paige. However, change doesn't have to be a completely negative event.  Sometime a dramatic change--in location, in habit, or in relationships--can be the push we need to make a fresh start or try out a new interest.  For Paige, her sudden shift from comfortable small town life to the the overwhelming but thrilling city pushes her to break out of her shell and start bringing her secret doodling habit out into the open.  While she always sketched in the corners of notebooks, Paige hasn't fully embraced her interest in drawing--until now. With her sketchbook in hand, Paige explores her new home and experiments with her new identity as an artist. As her confidence grows, she builds fresh friendships, defies her family’s expectations, and slowly discovers a new way of seeing.  However, even the brave new Paige isn't sure if she can live life as the bold and creative girl she's created in the safe pages of her sketchbook.  Will she share her new vision with the world or will she allow her self-doubt to win?

If you are looking for a fresh story about self-discovery and the creative process, Page by Paige is an absolute must read! Told through gorgeous drawings and fluid prose, Paige's story will ring true with anyone whose ever been "the new kid" or any artist trying to discover and embrace her creative identity.  Combining a more traditional coming of age motifs (new city, new friends, family conflict, tentative romance) with a specific exploration of the mind of a young artist, Laura Lee Gulledge crafts an enjoyable and unique story.  The graphic novel format suits this story particularly well; the illustrations are beautiful and highly expressive.  The images are used to tell the regular action of Paige's outer life as well as the emotional narrative of her internal life--her dreams, her fears, and her highly visual imagination.

For all artists and dreamers--and anyone in search of a good read--

check out Laura Lee Gulledge's debut

Page by Paige,

currently on display in the library's fiction section!