"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel

Photo Credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38990.Fun_Home

Alison Blechdel presents her life in an innovative way though the means of a graphic novel. From her childhood through her young adult life, Alison’s unconventional life experiences will pull you in to her gothic-based drawing style and witty writing. Her family is… interesting. Her father is a high school teacher/historic home preservationist/closeted homosexual/3^rd generation funeral home director who is more than slightly abusive toward his family. Alison’s mother doesn’t have time to notice her children’s angst at her husband’s behavior between her Master’s classes and aspirations of stardom. Alison’s life becomes exponentially more chaotic when she confesses her lesbianism to her parents, which sparks a string of unfortunate events.

Graphic novels prove to be popular among young adults, and I would expect that this fresh and interesting take on the LGBT autobiography would resonate with a variety of young readers. Even though Blechdel jumps around in the chronology of her writing, it still flows and seems easy enough to follow her age though the illustrations.

To be totally honest, I’m really, really glad that my dad is absolutely nothing like Alison’s.



See Fun Home in Salina Public Library's catalog:

• Fun Home in book format

See Fun Home on Goodreads.com

Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Print. ISBN 9780618477944. Hardback. $19.95 USD.