Red-Haired Ash Reads

“Just because it feels huge now doesn’t mean it will forever…” 

This was a wonderful graphic novel about mental illness and how friendship and therapy can change a person’s perspective. SG is a ghost who has anxiety and is struggling with his anxiety over school work, his future, making friends, and the social anxiety of being invited to a party. While at the party no one talks to him and he doesn’t know how to join the other conversations until he sees another ghost who seems to be alone and decides to talk to him. This leads to them bonding over shared mental illness and the start of a friendship.

This was a very good portrayal of the lonely periods of poor mental health and how important it is to have supportive and understanding people around you. SG and Socks’ story illustrates the importance of talking to people who you trust, seeking therapy and medication, and looking for a support network that actually works for you. Socks was a supportive and non-judgemental friend who has gone through similar experiences with his depression. I really enjoyed this look at the beginning of Socks and SG’s friendship and wonder how they will support each other through their mental health in the future. 

“And you gotta remember, when everything feels overwhelming…we are literally just a collection of atoms, that used to be stars, bumbling around and in, like, 100 years, we won’t even exist and nothing we did or felt will matter all that much anyways… So why bother worrying about school, or the future, or anything, when nothing really matters, y’ know?” 

Overall, this was a very easy and gentle read considering it is about mental health. It really normalizes the discussion of mental health and breaks down what it is and what it feels like, which is perfect for young readers who may be reading this and not yet understand what they are going through. The only main issue is that this is only the beginning of the discussion of mental health,  so it does make me wonder if books two and three continue the discussion that this book starts. If not, then the external links at the end of this graphic would provide more information. 

TW: anxiety; depression; 

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