Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green
Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green
Reviewed by T. Torres, J. Umali, L. Valencia, and S. Wongso
Review:
Lighter Than My Shadow is a coming-of-age graphic novel that ultimately depicts the struggles and road to recovery associated with eating disorders and abuse. Katie Green, the author, created this autobiographical graphic memoir to display the raw and traumatic events of her life. This novel can be difficult to read due to its heavy subject matter, so the book should be taught to those who are mature enough to understand emotional and mental health narratives; both young adults and adults can learn from this text. Green's aim with this novel was to communicate her struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and display the effects of sexual abuse, effectively creating a new perspective and bringing light into a dark situation. This novel effortlessly allows outsiders to look into and understand the world of mental health.
This novel begins by showcasing Katie’s average life made up of common issues with friends, self-image, and general pressure with school. By beginning this way, Green develops a relationship between Katie and her audience by portraying things that the majority of people encounter in their lives. One of the things Katie struggles with is acceptance: both of herself and of her fluctuating emotions which makes her question what she wants out of life. Throughout high school, her notions of herself and her body constantly change, leading to her battle with Anorexia that extended into her college years. During this time, she begins to look for professional help through therapy. Through this experience, Katie gains awareness of the importance of how to deal with her issues firsthand.
Green’s choice of diction is easy to understand but is used purposefully so that others do not get lost in the complexity of her process of recovery. The physical size of this novel is a perfect embodiment of the emotional weight that Katie had to carry her entire life. Her use of an internal monologue is meant to convey the judgment that she puts upon herself, leading to her inner turmoil that makes itself known as a very powerful image of a black cloud over her head. This black cloud begins to form when she chooses to meditate on rude phrases from schoolboys. This began her reflection on her self-image and reveals the voice, or cloud, that constantly gets louder and overpowers her desire to understand her emotions, which then makes her believe these lies about herself. Green’s artwork is expressive through the facial expression of her characters. There are also minor differences within the speech bubbles. Green differentiates text bubbles as a solid curved line versus a dotted-line to display her internal thoughts. This can easily be missed, but she purposefully does that to convey the unspoken thoughts that often stay within her mind and show just how much of an effect these easily overlooked thoughts can have.
Overall, Lighter Than My Shadow is a great resource. She makes these issues known so that others may develop a better understanding of the process of recovery. Using this autobiographical narrative as a resource for high school students will help exercise their critical thinking skills and express that there is more to a story than what meets the eye. More importantly, it will help students understand important aspects of our social, emotional, and behavioral processes that are rarely talked about.
Biography:
“my greatest tool and my greatest challenge was remembering to be kind to myself” -Lighter Than My Shadow Blog
Katie Green's first published book, Lighter Than My Shadow, began as a degree project. Her work was signed up by Jonathan Cape in 2010. Some of the pages took five years to complete for Green. Her memoir, Lighter Than My Shadow, traces her struggle with abuse, self-image, and anorexia. The memoir is built upon visuals to better convey the message of struggle to the audience. Her memoir was derived from her earlier intentions of wanting to become an illustrator for children’s books. Instead, Green essentially created a picture book for adults.
“I turned all of this really horrible stuff in my life into something really positive. For myself.” -Shelf Awareness
Katie Green was born and raised in the suburbs of London. In 2002, she moved to Bristol for her studies. She lived in Bristol for 10 years where she eventually moved to her current home in Devon. Green graduated with first-class honors in 2009 where she obtained her degree in Biology and studied Sequential Literature.
Lighter Than My Shadow was inspired by Green’s frustration with the presently available literature about anorexia. She could not relate to the literature offered and wanted to provide a more relatable narrative on the topic. Through her work, she wanted to demonstrate that the healing process is lengthy but possible.
Since Lighter Than My Shadow, Green has worked on short comics, zines, and even illustrations for a select number of clients. Green’s work has been featured in several exhibitions and she also gives workshops and presentations around the UK and overseas. Green’s other passions include her knitting, drawing and her rescue dog, Jack.
Instructional Resources:
This video has to do with the eating disorder of binge eating, some of the issues the man faces are similar to the mental struggle seen in the book. The students should focus on the self-depreciation both individuals feel as they go through their physical and their mental struggle.
2. The School of Life: Self-Esteem (Video).
3. The School of Life: Self Compassion (Video).
4. The School of Life: Being Out of Touch With One’s Feelings (Video).
Emotion is a complex network that works inside our minds that is hard to navigate, making it difficult to understand and express them. This confusion can lead to ill decisions, as was seen in the book. The main character struggled with her past and how she viewed herself, and this video will shed more light on why this occurred.
Emotion is a complex network that works inside our minds that is hard to navigate, making it difficult to understand and express them. This confusion can lead to ill decisions, as was seen in the book. The main character struggled with her past and how she viewed herself, and this video will shed more light on why this occurred.
7. National Eating Disorders Association: Help & Support
In the book, it took a long time for Katie to understand what was wrong and an even longer time for her to fully express that to her loved ones. Resources like NEDA provide more information on eating disorders and help individuals find out if it is time to get professional help. NEDA also provides resources for those seeking lower cost options and those seeking help after they are ready to recover or have relapsed.
Preview:
Since students will be reading a book with such heavy and mature content, it is important that they have a way to track their feelings, thoughts, and questions throughout their reading experience. The best way to do this is through Double-Diary Entries, a strategy outlined by Doug Buehl in Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. This will also give students an organized point from which to jump off of in group discussions and writing assignments.
The students will then use the quotes from their entries to write an essay outlining the ways that Katie’s friends and family could have helped her more along the way and then apply it to themselves to think about with their own interactions with loved ones in their daily lives.
California Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.3
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.E
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.F
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Resources and Preparation:
- Linked here is a template for a Double-Diary Entry page if the teacher would like to use a handout rather than having the kids make their own entries on lined paper.
- How to Help A Loved One on National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders: To be used before the students start their Double-Diary Entries to prime them on which actions are appropriate and helpful in response to a loved one with anorexia and which actions are not.
- Information on Anorexia Nervosa on National Eating Disorders Association
Instructional Plan:
Once the book is assigned, the teacher should give the students a general idea of what the book is about: a non-fiction memoir about the author’s struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and a look at how it started, how it evolved, and ultimately how she recovered from it. Warn the students that this is a book containing mature content that should be taken seriously, especially since it is a memoir and outline’s someone’s real experiences.
Ask the class what they believe Anorexia Nervosa is and then give them the formal definition from the National Eating Disorders Association site. This contains not just the definition but the symptoms and signs to look out for, useful resources for the students reading the book. Then talk about the page “How to Help A Loved One” from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa.
Before the students start the book, assign the Double-Diary Entries. Either have them create their own on lined paper, or give them a handout consisting of multiple pages that display two column tables. The students will use one side for “Passage/Panel and Page Number” and the other side for “Action/Response” for the way Katie herself and her friends and family responded to her developing disorder. If needed, the students can label certain quotes/panels with a “?” to indicate that they need clarification or would like to talk about that passage in class.
The teacher will assign sections of the text to be read according to whichever time frame they find appropriate for the class. A breakdown suggestion would be:
1. Page 1-141 (From Katie’s childhood to hospitalization)
2. 142-323 (Katie’s return to school to her parting with her alternative therapist)
3. 324-508 (Katie’s struggle with binge eating to the end)
After reading each of these sections, check their Diary Entries and split them into groups to have discussions about the graphic novel. Lead the discussions with questions such as:
- What specific struggles is Katie having with the disorder? / What is she doing specifically that follow the symptoms and signs of the disorder?
- How does Katie view her own disorder?
- How do her friends respond to the signs?
- How do her parents respond to the signs?
- Are there any cries for help that you notice from Katie?
- How is Katie coping? Are her responses changing? Are they getting better or worse?
Once all the sections have been read, assign a summative essay with the prompt, “In which ways could Katie’s friends and family have helped with her struggle with anorexia? Present specific moments from the text in which someone said or did something that harmed Katie more than helped her and explain what they could have done instead. Conclude the essay with ways in which you could transfer the things you have learned from this book into your interactions with those close to you.”
Bibliography
Buehl, Doug. Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. Stenhouse Publishers, 2017.
Freeman, John. “Ten Questions: ‘Lighter Than My Shadow’ Creator Katie Green” Down The Tubes, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “About” Web blog post. Katie Green. Word Press, 2016, Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “Lighter Than My Shadow” Kids Maximum Shelf. Shelf-Awareness,14 Aug. 2017. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
“Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 3 Oct. 2013, www.goodreads.com/book/show/17456953-lighter-than-my-shadow.
Preview:
Since students will be reading a book with such heavy and mature content, it is important that they have a way to track their feelings, thoughts, and questions throughout their reading experience. The best way to do this is through Double-Diary Entries, a strategy outlined by Doug Buehl in Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. This will also give students an organized point from which to jump off of in group discussions and writing assignments.
Since students will be reading a book with such heavy and mature content, it is important that they have a way to track their feelings, thoughts, and questions throughout their reading experience. The best way to do this is through Double-Diary Entries, a strategy outlined by Doug Buehl in Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. This will also give students an organized point from which to jump off of in group discussions and writing assignments.
The students will then use the quotes from their entries to write an essay outlining the ways that Katie’s friends and family could have helped her more along the way and then apply it to themselves to think about with their own interactions with loved ones in their daily lives.
California Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.3
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.E
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.F
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Resources and Preparation:
Instructional Plan:
Once the book is assigned, the teacher should give the students a general idea of what the book is about: a non-fiction memoir about the author’s struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and a look at how it started, how it evolved, and ultimately how she recovered from it. Warn the students that this is a book containing mature content that should be taken seriously, especially since it is a memoir and outline’s someone’s real experiences.
Ask the class what they believe Anorexia Nervosa is and then give them the formal definition from the National Eating Disorders Association site. This contains not just the definition but the symptoms and signs to look out for, useful resources for the students reading the book. Then talk about the page “How to Help A Loved One” from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa.
Before the students start the book, assign the Double-Diary Entries. Either have them create their own on lined paper, or give them a handout consisting of multiple pages that display two column tables. The students will use one side for “Passage/Panel and Page Number” and the other side for “Action/Response” for the way Katie herself and her friends and family responded to her developing disorder. If needed, the students can label certain quotes/panels with a “?” to indicate that they need clarification or would like to talk about that passage in class.
The teacher will assign sections of the text to be read according to whichever time frame they find appropriate for the class. A breakdown suggestion would be:
1. Page 1-141 (From Katie’s childhood to hospitalization)
2. 142-323 (Katie’s return to school to her parting with her alternative therapist)
3. 324-508 (Katie’s struggle with binge eating to the end)
After reading each of these sections, check their Diary Entries and split them into groups to have discussions about the graphic novel. Lead the discussions with questions such as:
Bibliography
Buehl, Doug. Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. Stenhouse Publishers, 2017.
Freeman, John. “Ten Questions: ‘Lighter Than My Shadow’ Creator Katie Green” Down The Tubes, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “About” Web blog post. Katie Green. Word Press, 2016, Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “Lighter Than My Shadow” Kids Maximum Shelf. Shelf-Awareness,14 Aug. 2017. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
“Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 3 Oct. 2013, www.goodreads.com/book/show/17456953-lighter-than-my-shadow.
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.E
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.F
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Resources and Preparation:
- Linked here is a template for a Double-Diary Entry page if the teacher would like to use a handout rather than having the kids make their own entries on lined paper.
- How to Help A Loved One on National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders: To be used before the students start their Double-Diary Entries to prime them on which actions are appropriate and helpful in response to a loved one with anorexia and which actions are not.
- Information on Anorexia Nervosa on National Eating Disorders Association
Instructional Plan:
Once the book is assigned, the teacher should give the students a general idea of what the book is about: a non-fiction memoir about the author’s struggle with Anorexia Nervosa and a look at how it started, how it evolved, and ultimately how she recovered from it. Warn the students that this is a book containing mature content that should be taken seriously, especially since it is a memoir and outline’s someone’s real experiences.
Ask the class what they believe Anorexia Nervosa is and then give them the formal definition from the National Eating Disorders Association site. This contains not just the definition but the symptoms and signs to look out for, useful resources for the students reading the book. Then talk about the page “How to Help A Loved One” from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa.
Before the students start the book, assign the Double-Diary Entries. Either have them create their own on lined paper, or give them a handout consisting of multiple pages that display two column tables. The students will use one side for “Passage/Panel and Page Number” and the other side for “Action/Response” for the way Katie herself and her friends and family responded to her developing disorder. If needed, the students can label certain quotes/panels with a “?” to indicate that they need clarification or would like to talk about that passage in class.
The teacher will assign sections of the text to be read according to whichever time frame they find appropriate for the class. A breakdown suggestion would be:
1. Page 1-141 (From Katie’s childhood to hospitalization)
2. 142-323 (Katie’s return to school to her parting with her alternative therapist)
3. 324-508 (Katie’s struggle with binge eating to the end)
After reading each of these sections, check their Diary Entries and split them into groups to have discussions about the graphic novel. Lead the discussions with questions such as:
- What specific struggles is Katie having with the disorder? / What is she doing specifically that follow the symptoms and signs of the disorder?
- How does Katie view her own disorder?
- How do her friends respond to the signs?
- How do her parents respond to the signs?
- Are there any cries for help that you notice from Katie?
- How is Katie coping? Are her responses changing? Are they getting better or worse?
Bibliography
Buehl, Doug. Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. Stenhouse Publishers, 2017.
Freeman, John. “Ten Questions: ‘Lighter Than My Shadow’ Creator Katie Green” Down The Tubes, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “About” Web blog post. Katie Green. Word Press, 2016, Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
Green, Katie. “Lighter Than My Shadow” Kids Maximum Shelf. Shelf-Awareness,14 Aug. 2017. Web. 4 Dec. 2018.
“Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 3 Oct. 2013, www.goodreads.com/book/show/17456953-lighter-than-my-shadow.
