"Page by Paige," by Laura Lee Gulledge

First, a word from the publisher: “Paige Turner has just moved to New York with her family, and she’s having some trouble adjusting to the big city. In the pages of her sketchbook, she tries to make sense of her new life, including trying out her secret identity: artist. As she makes friends and starts to explore the city, she slowly brings her secret identity out into the open, a process that is equal parts terrifying and rewarding. Laura Lee Gulledge crafts stories and panels with images that are thought-provoking, funny, and emotionally resonant. Teens struggling to find their place can see themselves in Paige’s honest, heartfelt story.“

What Worked For Me:

Page by Paige is a young artist’s coming of age story. Generally speaking, it’s an uplifting read. It also includes interesting insights into the artistic process, from “the only thing an artist has control over is how much art they make, not its path,” and that an artist must both “trust their instincts,” and, “keep it simple.”
The author also has interesting things to say about relationships, from “mother and daughter,” to “between friends.” Some that stood out to me include that: “the mother may put down the dots, but the daughter connects them,” and that, “friendship is like a garden where the connections you water grow.” While these ideas may not be mind-blowing to older readers, I imagine they’ll be enlightening to the target audience of this work (YAs).
Though the story is a fairly standard “coming of age narrative,” the protagonist and secondary cast are all likeable.

What Didn’t:

For reasons I cannot explain, the entirety of the work displayed in “inverse” mode (ie where blacks where white and whites were black). The only solution I found was going into “detail” mode for each page, which prevented me from turning to the next page when I was done. Though it was a small inconvenience, it absolutely added up. Also, I’ve never had another eBook act this way.
Beyond that, each page seemed “low res,” not allowing me to zoom in much at all. This was true even in “detail” mode, which made certain text difficult to read.
(minor spoilers) Paige supposedly has a falling out with her parents, but it’s never really depicted outside of her own head save in very brief snippets. It left me wondering if I had missed something when they did finally reconcile.
(nit-pick) The protagonist’s name is Paige Turner. I know her parents are writers, but damn that’s on the nose.

Conclusion:

Though I had some odd technical issues with the work (see: cons), I still found it enjoyable. I can’t say I was particularly wowed by the coming-of-age portion of the narrative, but the author definitely had some interesting things to say about relationships, art, and the creative process. Ultimately, reading Page by Paige was perfectly fine way to spend an hour.

Check it out here.