Monthly Reads: Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

One of my goals for 2013 was to read one “fun” book a month. So far, I’ve only managed graphic novels, but I assure you; I have lofty plans of reading a book with no pictures for the month of March. That said, I only had time for one fun book/graphic novel in February, Faith Erin Hicks’ Friends With Boys.

I had really been looking forward to Friends With Boys, so when it went on pre-order on Amazon I snatched it up, and I read it cover to cover the day it arrived. As always, Hicks’ characters are so believable and expressive. Friends with Boys follows the story of Maggie McKay as she enters public school after years of home schooling, and her adventures in contending with issues surrounding family, friends and of course, ghosts. Hicks conveys adolescent angst in a very accessible way, without any unnecessary melodramatic frills. Maggie’s first day of high school felt exactly like MY first day of high school, and the drama between jocks and weirdos feels very real without crossing over into .

If you breeze through this read like I did the first time,  Friends With Boys feels like a coming of age story where no one actually comes of age (other than one ancillary character, who is quite frankly the least likable of the entire cast of protagonists). However, upon closer examination, it’s evident that this coming of age story is addressing how as adults we do not get closure on every issue in our lives. As such, Friends feels less like a complete story and more like a vignette in the characters’ lives, which was a little disappointing. I want more of Maggie, her brothers, as well as Al and Lucy, but I doubt that’s in the cards. Still, I’m looking forward to whatever Hicks has in store for us next.

You R2 Good To Me, Valentine

On the first Valentine’s Day Eric and I shared, he wrote and performed an original rap titled “Love Ho”. It was as wonderful and ridiculous as it sounds. Since then, we’ve kept the holiday a little more modest. There’s usually Chinese food and chocolate involved. Maybe a movie or a small gift or two. This year I wanted to do something special, so I made Eric a valentine!

Eric is an artist. Year after year, he’s whipped up sweet, silly, stupid valentines that have always brought a smile to my face. I’m not much of an artist, but I suspected that if I applied myself I could make something that was at least somewhat charming. Due to a total lack of drawing skills, I decided to do a paper-cut. Armed with some fancy paper from Blick, an X-Acto knife and a reference photo of what I suspect was an R2-D2 trashcan, I set to work. Six hours (over several weeks) later, R2 was complete. The back read “You R2 Good To Me”, and Eric loved it. My favorite bit is his little heart shaped sensor light.


Eric and I exchanged valentines in the morning before he made his way to work. After what turned out to be a long, frustrating day we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date. Dinner was followed by chocolates, snugs and awful TV at home. It was lovely.