Review: Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos

Life--and the love and absurdities therein--has proved fertile ground for author-illustrator Lucy Knisley (Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride). Over five published graphic novels, she's shared her extensive travel experiences; dished up a delicious story of being raised by her parents, a chef and a gourmet; and documented the comic mishaps en route to tying the knot with her beau, John. Knisley has turned her "pen inward to map the shifting tectonic plates" of her life and find meaning, purpose and silver linings--even amid the curve balls thrown her way.

She continues in this vein with great aplomb in Kid Gloves, which intimately documents the thoughts and discoveries she made in conceiving and carrying a child, while also outlining the many challenges that plagued her on the rocky road to motherhood.

Knisley shares her teenage experiences volunteering for Planned Parenthood, when she became something of a guru for her high school classmates and friends, informing them about healthy sex and reproduction. In college, she began an odyssey to find the right method of birth control. She developed a latex allergy and had bad reactions to the pill and IUDs. A hormone-dispensing rod implanted under the skin ultimately fit the bill. Years later, the device is removed when she and John set out to conceive a child.

Their first attempt brings joyful news that takes a sad turn when Knisley suffers a miscarriage and, before long, a second pregnancy also spontaneously terminates. These complications ultimately drive Knisley into a severe depression, illustrated by an image of herself trapped inside a pit: "It's hard to see how deep the hole is when you're in it." What saves her is work, along with the support of her husband and family, reading comics by other graphic artist mothers, seeing a therapist, undergoing acupuncture, swimming and meditating. Her OBGYN, seeking the reason for Knisley's inability to carry a child to term, discovers and surgically removes a structural anomaly in her uterus. These measures lead Knisley to conceive again, and the narrative deepens, as she takes readers on a detailed journey through each trimester of her pregnancy, up to and through the birthing process.

The graphics that accompany the travails of her hellacious morning sickness--"exorcist levels of puke" and even frightening, "insane" dreams of Donald Trump--along with her difficult labor and the harrowing complications after the baby's delivery are vivid, profound and visually imaginative. Throughout the story, Knisley adds levity by presenting illustrated factoids, myths and research about women's reproductive health. These include how Emily Brontë died from pregnancy sickness, how sexism has affected women's lives for centuries, the rise of the women's movement, and pregnancy, miscarriage and "conception misconceptions."

Knisley is a lively storyteller, and the encapsulated charm of her graphics holds equal appeal. In both arenas, her inimitable style builds suspense and ultimately oozes with hopeful optimism. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines.

Shelf Talker: An accomplished graphic novelist takes readers on an intimate journey through her pregnancy experiences, while exploring fun facts about women's reproductive health.

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