Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge


When sixteen-year-old Virginia native Paige Turner moves to Brooklyn with her scholarly parents in the middle of December, she decides to make it her mission to follow her grandmother's set of rules on how to be an artist. Rule number one? No more excuses! Paige purchases a sketchbook and sets out to 'do a few pages a week.' Along the way, she discovers her new city, makes a new set of friends, pulls a variety of art pranks, gets her first kiss, and, most importantly, defines herself for herself. Art teacher Gulledge's black and white illustrations, in particular her representation of metaphors, are simple yet deep, and remind me of Craig Thompson's work. Each section of the book represents one of grandma's nine rules; this structure lends forward motion to a story that could otherwise drift. Give this one to students who want to be artists but say 'my parents won't let me...' Grade 7+

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