MY PERFECT LIFE by Lynda Barry...

MY PERFECT LIFE by Lynda Barry (HarperPerennial: $9.). Although the term graphic novel is usually reserved for flashy superhero comic books, it aptly describes Barry’s recent work--a combination of words and pictures that relate a story more effectively than either medium could alone. A sequel to “Come Over, Come Over” (1990), “My Perfect Life” continues the story of Maybonne, a socially inept junior high student during the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Too young to participate in the Woodstock counterculture, Maybonne flounders through unsuccessful attempts at romance, an ongoing family crisis and a succession of “cruddy teachers.” Barry’s carefully chosen words and scribbly drawings capture the melodramatic fantasies and insecurities of adolescence more accurately than most conventional novels do.