Isobel Harrop

Although the subtitle of the book is "Just a Northern Girl from Where Nothing Really Happens," I was still hoping for a little more to happen than actually does. The Isobel Journal is much more like someone else's actual journal than most "journal" and "diary" books these days, which is both bad and good. On the plus side, it feels more authentic, but on the other hand, it doesn't quite feel worth the time (and money) investment, since, well, nothing really happens. I do think this is the kind of book that would be better read in physical, rather than digital, form, as I imagine it would feel even more like a journal then.

While I appreciated that the artwork seemed realistic for a teen's journal, instead of looking like a professional artist attempting to achieve a semblance of averageness, the overall style wasn't to my taste. Because the illustrations were sketched in a variety of materials, I found it difficult to track characters/friends/faces from page to page. My favorite pages were the ones in which Isobel's drawings were placed on top of photographs, creating an interesting faux-reality effect.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of The Isobel Journal, I gained a greater appreciation for it when I read the author bio at the end and discovered Isobel Harrop was only 18 and still in school when she created this book. If I had known that when I began reading it, I may have enjoyed the experience more, since it really is much more of an actual teen's journal than a grown-up pretending to create a teen's journal, as I originally thought. (I'm confused as to why this is classified as fiction, since it seems--based on the title of the book, the name of the author, and the author's bio--that this basically is Harrop's journal. Wouldn't that be nonfiction then?)

I do think that a few of the cultural references in the book may be lost on American teens; they were lost on me, at least, and I'm still relatively close to that demographic.

Note: I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley.… (más)

The Isobel Journal by Isobel Harrop is a collection of one panel comics and sketches from her day to day life. The author was a teenager at the time she made these drawings.

Isobel Harrop describes herself as living in the "North West of England, squished somewhere between Manchester and Liverpool." Her illustrations include her friends, people she's watched on the tele, boys she's interested in, and animals she likes. She's especially fond of river otters.

I read this book as a graphic novel for the CYBILs, but it strikes me more as a sketchbook, like Sketchtravel, than a graphic novel. Though there are themed chapters, and a hint of her romance with a boy and the messy breakup, there's no clear plot, no clear characters.… (más)