Layers by Pénélope Bagieu is a cute graphic memoir. It’s a series of unrelated vignettes that span the author’s childhood, teen years, college years, and early adulthood. Many of the stories are cute, but some are a bit confusing. I also disagree with the publisher’s YA label. This is a book for young adults, yes, but it isn’t YA. To me, this is better for 20-something readers.
AUTHOR: Pénélope Bagieu
ILLUSTRATOR: Pénélope Bagieu
SERIES: none
PUBLISHER: FirstSecond
PUBLICATION DATE: October 17, 2023
PAGES: 144
GENRE: graphic memoir, humor
SETTING: France
GIVE IT TO: adults
AWARDS AND KUDOS
- Booklist starred
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Pénélope Bagieu never thought she’d publish a graphic memoir. But when she dusted off her old diaries (no, really―this book is based on her actual diaries), she found cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking stories begging to be drawn.
In Layers, Bagieu reflects on her childhood and teen years with her characteristic wit and unflinching honesty. The result is fifteen short stories about friendship, love, grief, and those awkward first steps toward adulthood.
THE SHORT VERSION
Cute, funny, love the graphics. I disagree with publisher’s YA marketing–this feels more adult to me.
WHAT I LIKED
This book includes 15 vignettes. Some are longer, and some are as short as one page. My favorite vignette was the first one about the kittens Penelope and her sister get for Christmas as children.
I’ve had dogs and cats throughout my life, and nearly all of them have been with me through their old age. I also have a dog currently that was weaned too young, and I do understand the odd behaviors that can come with that! That first vignette was very relatable!
I also like the vignettes about Penelope’s naivete when it came to flirting, dating, body image, and sexual situations (both wanted and unwanted). The awkwardness, the naivete, and the stupid decisions are unfortunately all a normal part of growing up.
I loved the story of the kind gynecologist who gave Penelope a bit of education about sexual health. Sex education is often cut in schools these days, but the decisions we make as teens can be life-changing. Children and teens absolutely need facts and information about sexual health, given kindly, in an age-appropriate way, and without judgment. It’s horrifying to me that so many American teens just don’t get that.
What was with the girl who had the burn on her hand? I got invested in that very short story, and it was never mentioned again. I guess it’s like that in real life though–we don’t always know what happened to the people we went to school with. Too bad–that would have been an interesting story for sure.
The illustrations are cute and funny. Penelope Bagieu is a talented artist, and I look forward to more graphic novels from her.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
While I really enjoyed this cute graphic memoir, I disagree with the publisher’s YA label. This is perfect for college-age adults or adults in their early-20s. Several vignettes are set in Penelope’s college years or adult years, and it just feels more adult to me.
There is also some nudity, sexual situations (intercourse), smoking, and frank discussion of body image and sexuality. I personally do think many high school students can handle this content, but I’m not sure if I’d put it in a US high school library.
I guess it would depend largely on the maturity of my students and the community I serve. In the 2023 environment of book banning and pearl-clutching over sexual content, particularly in states like my home state of Texas, I would likely choose something else over this one.
I think this was a case where the publisher chose to market this graphic memoir as YA rather than adult simply because it will sell better as a YA graphic than an adult graphic. It seems like I’m seeing this more and more lately, and it’s a shame. High school librarians should be aware it’s happening and talk about it.
One vignette led me to wonder if Penelope had been sexually molested on a train. That one was confusing and didn’t give enough information. It was certainly a weird creeper stranger man at the very least.
DIVERSITY
All characters are French. All major characters are white.
ARTWORK/ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrations are black and white and detailed. I love the artwork and the facial expressions of the characters. I also liked that some vignettes were two side-by-side panels that read down instead of across. These were to contrast two different timelines at once, such as showing a similar situation with Penelope as a teen and Penelope as an adult.
You can click on the three sample pages below to make them larger. I included one of the sex scenes with nudity so you can judge for yourself if you want to buy this book for your high school library. These three scenes are not related–they are from three different vignettes.
THEMES
- dating, growing up, coming-of-age, grief, death of parent (father), death of a pet, sisters, unwanted sexual advances, child abuse, loss of virginity, need for sex education, sexual health, awkwardness of growing up, body image, self-consciousness
LIBRARIANS WILL WANT TO KNOW
Would adults like this book? YES! I really enjoyed it! Cute illustrations, funny, relatable. A great choice for adults.
Would I buy this for my high school library? I personally would not buy it for a US library in the current (2023) climate of people calling books with any sex in them “porn.”
In my two Shanghai high school libraries, I can think of several specific students who would just love this book. I would buy it for both those schools. These were both expensive private schools with highly-educated parents. Many families were European at both schools, and they are generally less “shocked” at nudity than my Texas families were.
Use your judgement and knowledge of your students and the community, but I recommend erring on the side of more conservative right now in the US.
Would I buy this for my middle school library? NO, it’s not a middle school book, even if it looks like one.
Would I buy this for my elementary school library? NO, it’s not an elementary school book.
MATURE CONTENT
Language: not gratuitous, but there is some profanity, including the F-word
Sexuality: kissing; waist-up nudity in several images (none are detailed); non-detailed images of sexual intercourse; creepy man on the train who Penelope seems to have seen before; unwanted sexual advances and touching; multiple images of Penelope in bra and panties
Violence: child abuse (classmate with parent-inflicted burn on her hand); unwanted sexual advances and touching
Drugs/Alcohol: Penelope smokes in several scenes; grandpa drinks alcohol and watches topless dancing on TV
Other: a few scenes with people sitting on a toilet
MORE UPPER-HS AND ADULT GRAPHIC MEMOIRS:
