Comment

ksoles
Sep 01, 2012ksoles rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Lesley Fairfield's graphic novel depicts the internal struggle of Anna, a teenager fighting her self-imposed regime of starvation and purging. Though Tyranny keeps Anna thin, the demon destroys her health and her personal relationships and causes her to pose the question: "how did I get here?" Illustrated with simple black-and-white drawings, "Tyranny" makes minimal use of dialogue in this honest and brave exploration of eating disorders. Anna visibly turns from a healthy girl into a dangerously ill young woman while Tyranny, an eerie, skeletal creature with bulging eyes, goads her on. Ultimately, Anna battles back and regains control over her life. Though the graphic novel form sacrifices character development and plot complexity, Fairfield succeeds in conveying her central message of hope. The format lends itself well to the educational aspects of the story and gets to the heart of a painful subject with sensitivity. Most importantly, its clear and direct style has the potential to reach reluctant readers.