BOOKLIST (STARRED) - Penn State University Press, already a publisher of award-winning graphic titles, launches a new imprint, Graphic Mundi, showcasing comics intent on "drawing our worlds together." Among its inaugural lineup is French comics artist Espé's spectacular, autobiographically inspired homage to a childhood haunted by mental illness. At eight, Bastien already knows his mother has been in so many "psych homes" that he "wonder[s] if she's earning points on a rewards card or something." With Mama often institutionalized, Bastien lives with his father, next door to his maternal grandparents, with whom he also regularly stays. Despite all attempts to protect him, Bastien has seen too much: his mother's horrific removal in "the shirt with belts," her violent hallucinations, her unreachable disconnection. But he also remembers her warm devotion, their delightful outdoor adventures, her lucid moments of such love. His imagination, his friends, his father's unbending determination will save, at least, the boy's life. Originally published in France in 2017 and affectingly translated into English by Chute, Espé's artful volume presents his memories in vibrant chapters, saturated mostly in single colors with shades of oranges and reds reserved largely for his mother's illness. Despite the terror of a child witnessing the failure of his mother's mental health care, Espé brilliantly succeeds in creating a tender, gorgeous tribute. The genesis of the title, revealed in the final chapter, proves heartbreakingly bittersweet.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED) -- Espé's heartbreaking graphic novel gets at the insidious nature of depression and how it is inexplicable to those not in its grasp. Eight-year-old Bastien witnesses his mother, Marie, cycle through psychiatric facilities and treatment plans, none of which do more than provide a temporary respite from her mental illness, while his father and grandparents struggle to handle her episodes. Espé's expressive linework and color choices-some sections are hued with greens, others blues, but the panels where Marie is overcome by her rages are red-convey Bastien's shifting emotions as he watches his mother deteriorate. Often, he is relieved not to be around her, even as he misses her. Espé's artistic virtuosity shines when depicting how Bastien uses his imagination as a defense. As Marie gets electroshock therapy, for instance, Bastien envisions the superhero Wolverine strapped to a table for experimentation, and that his mother also will evolve into a superhero. But despite the limited relief of these fantasies, Bastien just wants his mother to be present. In one scene, with her depression at bay, Marie and Bastien hike in the woods and she teaches him about wildlife and comforts him when he's scared. "When I'm not there, promise me you'll only think about the good times we've spent together," she says in one rather devastating moment. This beautifully told and brutal story strikes home.