Age 16 by Rosena Fung (review)

Reviewed by: Age 16 by Rosena Fung Kate Quealy-Gainer Fung, Rosena Age 16; written and illus. by Rosena Fung. Annick, 2024 316p Trade ed. ISBN 9781773218335 31. 99 Paper ed. ISBN 9781773218342 22. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Toronto in 2000 sets the opening scene for this deeply moving graphic novel, where sixteen-year-old Roz is doing her best to fit in by losing weight, counting calories, feigning excitement about the upcoming prom, and hiding her passion for sci-fi. Her mother doesn't make any of it easy, and she's particularly hard on Roz about her weight. The book then flashes back to Hong Kong in 1972, where Roz's mother Lydia contends with her own mother, whose hair-trigger temper and constant criticism create such a toxic home life that Lydia jumps at the chance to attend school in the U. S. Another shift in time brings readers to Guangdong in 1954 to meet Lydia's mother, Mei Laan, who flees from an abusive marriage to the streets, pregnant and with few resources. This portrait of intergenerational trauma strikes a delicate balance, providing a sympathetic explanation for Lydia's and Mei Laan's dysfunction without offering exoneration. The book takes care to acknowledge that healthy parenting was never modeled for any of these women, but that nonetheless their individual choices, along with their difficult circumstances, leave Roz with a heap of hurt she has no agency to heal or even fully understand. Time periods are marked by distinct palette shifts, and Fung (Living with Viola, BCCB 10/21) deftly conveys the three characters' chaotic thought patterns, relentless self-criticism, and deep pain with profound and engrossing art. Numbers on the scale follow Roz throughout her sections, Mei Laan's casually cruel comments move in ribbons around Lydia's, and a man's silhouette occasionally haunts Mei Laan's panels. A powerful author's note explains that while the book is fiction, much of it is based on Fung's own experience. Like Ying's Hungry Ghost (BCCB 3/23), this is a tender reminder that bodies are inherently both loveable and vulnerable, worthy and especially needing of compassionate care. End Page 359 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois