Words by Mariko Tamaki, Drawings by Jillian Tamaki

In a nutshell: Skim is a Wiccan wannabe nursing a lesbian crush on her teacher; she refuses to jump on the grief bandwagon that explodes in her all-girls Toronto private school when a popular student’s boyfriend commits suicide.

Indicative quote: “Barf. Like Katie cares if you make her a card like, ‘Hi, you don’t know me, but I’m sorry your ex-boyfriend is dead.”

Reason I liked it: The eerie familiarity of it. Mariko Tamaki attended my high school (Havergal College) and I became obsessed with how it haunts the pages, right down to nostalgic images of the bathroom. Lurid question: is the English teacher based on an actual teacher? Hmmm.

You’ll like this book if you liked: The Wives of Bath, Heathers or Annie on my Mind

Book club ideas: Wear tunics or kilts and meet for a smoke in the ravine behind Pusateri’s. Bitch about all the popular kids in high school (if you were popular, don’t admit it, in the bizarro world of life this automatically makes you super lame). Eat granola bars and drink slushies.

Verdict: Bitterness against the “cool kids” is such a cliché. Yet I appreciate how Skim takes on the issue of adolescent grief being judged if it doesn’t manifest in a standard way – a point that’s been under-explored in our post-Columbine world. Jillian’s illustrations excel at emphasizing details that will resonate with Torontonians: TTC seats, the depressing mood of Swiss Chalet, those freaky Neighbourhood Watch signs. Together, the Tamakis genuinely capture the emotionally charged atmosphere of girls’ schools: a feat that has rarely been accomplished with such a sincere understanding of the idiosyncrasies of these microcosms.

Perfect present for: Your teenager sister or your best friend fromhigh school with whom you still gossip about the popular girls’ lame facebook pages.

by Lizzie McNeely