How I Made It to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story Story and Art by Tracy White
This is the tale of how Stacy Black (Tracy White’s illustrated self) wound up in a psychiatric hospital, faced that she had a problem (actually problems) and got herself back on track. The author freely admits on page one that the book is in essence true. She did a lot of drugs, she was depressed, and she had other problems. As far as the untruths go, she changed the order of some events and the names of some people to protect their identities.
This is a stark in your face look at the process of facing your problems and beginning to work them through. We see Stacy through the eyes of four of her friends from different times in her life as well as through her own eyes. As much as you want to shake her sometimes (her obsession with her boyfriend is painful to behold) you like her and want her to get better. It’s a very real feeling book and the simple black and white line drawings fit perfectly with a person reconstructing their life.
