Her belief in and practice of Wicca provide no help or solace. Kim’s entries show the reader her growing alienation and despair as well as her feelings of isolation. The fact that they have always and continue to treat Kim like garbage is proof of this. The popular girls start the Girls Celebrate Life club, which seems to be a vehicle for their own self importance and gratification rather than for genuinely helping others. Meanwhile, Katie has fallen off the roof of her house and been injured. In Part II: No Rest for the Wicked, Kim’s relationships deteriorate and she becomes more and more depressed. As they meet secretively to smoke and talk, Kim falls in love.

Kim wonders, “How come all the girls on the soccer team aren’t in counseling?” Meanwhile, Kim occasionally skips class to smoke in the woods outside school, and there she encounters her English teacher Ms. John Reddear, the boy who died, was popular, athletic and seemingly happy, but he was apparently depressed and suicidal. Kim, due to her Goth appearance and quiet demeanor, is generally considered an at-risk student, which she finds puzzling.

After Katie’s boyfriend dies, counselors are deployed at the school to help students with their grief and to identify those at risk for depression and suicide.

Skim is the nickname others gave her due to her size (she is not skim). The fact that she calls Kim “Skim” is a sign of this. Through her diary, Kim reveals things she would never say to Lisa, like that she thinks Lisa is an idiot sometimes. Lisa can be snarky and downright mean sometimes, and this is especially evident when one of the popular girls, Katie, is dumped by her boyfriend who later commits suicide. Kim is deeply interested in Wicca, as is her friend Lisa, but Kim’s interest seems sincere, Lisa’s more superficial. Kim’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and cat. Kim serves as our narrator via her diary, and through her entries we learn about her relationships and her dreams. Part I: Fall, takes place in fall but is also about falling. Nominated for an Eisner (among other awards), Skim is the story of Kim (aka Skim), a Japanese Canadian teen who is struggling with a variety of issues, including matters related to sexuality, depression and suicide. In fact this graphic novel was their first. This short (about 140 pages) graphic novel was created by the same Canadian cousin team that gave us This One Summer.

Skim tamaki