Rosena Fung

Trigger Warning: Fatphobia, fat shaming, eating disorders, toxic parenting, generational trauma

Told in alternative perspectives, Age 16, shifts between three generations of mothers and daughters as they rebel against stands of gender, race, beauty, and size from Guangdong in 1954 to Hong Kong in 1972, and Toronto in 2000.

Sixteen-year-old Roz is just trying to navigate through normal teenage stuff: high school friendships, college possibilities, body size, and of course, finding the perfect dress for prom. When her estranged Por Por unexpectedly arrives for what seems like an indefinite visit, the already strained relationship between Roz and her mom is tightened some more. With everyone now under one roof, conflicts arise and long, suppressed family secrets bubble to the surface.

One of the things I did enjoy about this novel is being able to see each female member of this family as they struggle with the pressures put on them in their teenage years - rather that’s from society or their mother. Though it didn’t excuse toxic behaviors, it explained them a little more.

I really enjoyed the art style within this graphic novel - it was simple (kind of reminded me a little of Scott Pilgrim). Rosena Fung also used different color pallets for each character, so it helped knowing which narrative was being told.

Overall, I really enjoyed this coming of age, generational graphic novel. Those who are interested in family history, immigration, and/or generational trauma will enjoy this book.

*Thank you Annick Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (more)

I've read two sequential art books about 3 generations of women moving from China, to Hong Kong, to North America published this year (so far!). One was the excellent Feeding Ghosts, a complex non-fiction memoir covering deep familial and national trauma. This novel, Age 16, is more fictionalized and tightly plotted, and while it covers its fair share of trauma it also has a strong throughline of complex intergenerational problems with body image that makes it really readable for teens and young adults, around the same age as the title.… (more)

Wow, this book is fantastic! It actually made me cry a little. But mostly for good reasons. Living with Viola is about a girl in 6th grade who has started at a new school but things really don’t seem to be going right. Everything she tries to do, there’s a voice in her head (Viola) who shoots Livy down telling her she isn’t good enough, she doesn’t deserve friends, everyone is mad at her and hates her, etc. At times she is able to chase Viola away by doing things she loves and spending time with her parents and friends having fun together. But as things seem to add up, it gets harder for her to enjoy things she normally does and to keep the negative thoughts (Viola) away. It’s harder for her to reject those thoughts and she begins to accept some of them as the truth.

By the end, Livy fees able to open up to her parents and to get help and the book even talks about some of the techniques she learns at therapy for overcoming her anxiety and panic disorder. I really love that it shows some of those techniques and how going to therapy was able to truly help Livy be able to cope with day to day stress. I also love that this book was written about a 6th grader and for a middle grade audience because I feel like a lot of people don’t think about kids when they think about mental health disorders like anxiety. But in actuality, the average onset of anxiety disorder is 7 years old, that’s 2nd graders in the US! Also, going into 6th grade is a huge change in a lot of ways and opens up a lot more stress for kids in general. Whether or not they have a mental disorder like anxiety or depression or whatever else, therapy can be really helpful to learn these sorts of coping techniques.

It was so heartwarming to see how supportive Livy’s parents were of her and even when the rest of the family was looking down on some of her behaviors and what the family thinks means a lot to her parents. Anxiety is a scary thing and it’s scary to tell people about it because not only is there a very real stigma, but the anxiety itself makes you think of all the awful things people will think about you if they knew. A book like this where a young girl is able to finally open up about it regardless of her fears is just so amazing… (more)