Teen Tuesday and Arc Review: Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder

Image: Penguin Random House

Dancing at the Pity Party: a dead mom graphic memoir by Tyler Feder. 208 p. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Random House, April 14, 2020. 9780525553021. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features Dancing at the Pity Party: a dead mom memoir by Tyler Feder. Graphic artist Tyler Feder remembers her mother in this achingly beautiful memoir about love and loss. Feder and her mom were close. She was a sophomore in college when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. Using a subdued pastel palette, Feder chronicles the myriad of feelings she and her family experienced over the year that followed - shock, terror, guilt, hope - through the process of grief when her mother succumbed.

I grabbed this on my way to the airport in November and read it while I waited for my flight. I wept copiously. But I also laughed. So much about this lovely, important graphic novel resonates. It truly belongs in every possible library collection. I wouldn't necessarily hand it to someone newly grieving the loss of a loved one, but certainly to anyone who wants to help.

Look for Dancing at the Pity Party in April.