Sometimes you read a graphic novel and realize that you’re not alone. That’s the power of literature in general, to be put in someone else’s shoes and realize they fit. Or if not the shoes, at least the apron. When you pick up Kim-Joy’s Turtle Bread, currently on Comixology but coming in October from Dark Horse, you’ll find a sensitive portrayal of being an introvert, suffering social anxiety, and struggling to look behind the masks people wear. And you’ll also get recipes for baking. Or as they say in the UK, for bakes.
Having watched The Great British Baking Show where Kim-Joy first bubbled up into the public eye, I knew she was a creative baker. Last year, she turned that creativity to a fun deck-building game for families called Kim-Joy’s Magic Bakery. Naturally the next challenge was a graphic novel. If you haven’t guessed already, it’s a treat.
Collaborating with artist Alti Firmansyah, Kim-Joy’s Turtle Bread focuses on Yan, a young woman who has just tanked a job interview. Feeling low, she finds a flyer to join a Baking Club. The voices in her head try to dissuade her, but she goes in anyway. The diverse group of baking enthusiasts accept her, but again the voices tell her otherwise. Gentle teasing translates to Yan as rejection or judgment, but she perseveres. It’s clear that at home, she’s not getting much understanding.
Yan’s journey to acceptance has fits and starts — and baking recipes. In an honest portrayal of mental health issues, there’s no magic wand waved to get her there. But Kim-Joy and Firmansyah put us so beautifully in Yan’s head, even as she struggles to get out of it. It’s a battle when your head tells you every comment belies judgment. It may be clear to us from the outside that Yan has talent, kindness, and ability, but she can’t see it.
Firmansyah draws in a manga-influenced style, which allows the pages to feel like comfort food. Kim-Joy scripts many pages to play in pantomime, and it’s effective. Interestingly, it’s the positive times when we can’t hear Yan’s thoughts. Doesn’t that feel accurate?
You might be lured in by the cakes and snacks, but Turtle Bread takes a frank, sensitive approach to mental health issues. It will make a great gift in the upcoming holiday season for the YA reader in your life, and you might get some turtle bread out of it.
Kim-Joy has been herself open about her mental health struggles, and has a panel Saturday, July 22 from noon to 1 pm in room 23ABC — Baking and Mental Health with Kim-Joy. She’ll also be signing prints at the Dark Horse booth from 3 to 3:45.
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