My Favorite Thing Is Monsters

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is a graphic novel presented as the spiral-bound diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes in 1968 Chicago. Karen draws herself as a wolf-girl and fills her notebook with ballpoint pen sketches of her life, family, and imaginative interpretations of horror movie posters and magazine covers. The story centers on Karen's investigation into the death of her upstairs neighbor Anka Silverberg, an enigmatic Holocaust survivor. Karen navigates her working-class neighborhood while trying to understand the complexities of her own family, including her relationship with her older brother Deeze and her mother's illness. The artwork consists entirely of crosshatched drawings done in ballpoint pen on lined paper, mixing realistic portraits with surreal monster imagery. The visual style shifts between careful reproductions of artwork from Chicago's Art Institute, noir-influenced scenes of urban life, and Karen's monster-movie influenced interpretations of reality. Through Karen's perspective as an outsider and monster enthusiast, the book explores themes of difference, trauma, art, sexuality, and the ways people cope with personal and historical horrors. The format allows for multiple layers of meaning as Karen's drawings reveal both what she observes and how she processes the adult world around her.

Readers consistently mention the unique art style - detailed cross-hatching and ballpoint pen drawings that fill every page. Many note how the artwork pulls them into 1960s Chicago and the protagonist's monster-filled imagination. Readers appreciate: - Integration of real historical events and social issues - Complex layering of multiple mysteries and storylines - Karen's perspective as an outsider who processes life through horror movies Common criticisms: - The large format makes it awkward to hold and read - Some find the densely-packed pages overwhelming - The story ends on a cliffhanger without resolution Review stats: Goodreads: 4.3/5 (18,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (850+ ratings) Representative review: "Like reading someone's personal diary filled with incredible drawings. The format tests your patience but rewards close attention." - Goodreads reviewer Multiple readers note they needed to read it twice to catch all the visual details and story connections.

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🎨 Author Emil Ferris taught herself to draw again after West Nile virus left her partially paralyzed, creating the entire graphic novel using BIC pens and composition notebooks. 📚 The book's protagonist, Karen Reyes, was inspired by Ferris's own childhood in 1960s Chicago, where she too was an outcast who found solace in monster magazines and art. 🏆 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters won three Eisner Awards in 2018, including Best Graphic Album, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Coloring. 🖌️ The distinctive crosshatching technique used throughout the book was influenced by Ferris's study of Old Master drawings, particularly those of Albrecht Dürer. 🎬 The book's unique visual style mimics the look of a spiral-bound notebook filled with ballpoint pen drawings, and incorporates elements from horror comics, fine art, and pulp magazines of the 1960s.