Yo, Miss #3: A Graphic Look at High School

Lisa Wilde is an artist who has taught at Wildcat Academy, a second chance high school in Brooklyn, for the past sixteen years and this serialized graphic novel comes from her perspective as a teacher there. We follow her ongoing adventures as she takes time to walk to school along the Hudson River after open school night, trying to get some time away from it all to think. A student at risk of aging out of the public school system drops out unexpectently and Wilde tries to intervene. The holiday talent show rolls around and many charming moments ensue. Danny lies to Wilde, claiming his mom has been sick in the intensive care unit and that's why he hasn't turned in his work. She falls for it, only to learn the truth from his counselor. But our narrator is wise enough to be able to step back and assess the systemic race and class-based reasons that our characters are constantly at risk of failing out of high school and dropping out of the system. There is no shortage of other narrative action. Television isn't scripted this well. The graphic novel format perfectly creates emotional proximity between the reader and the student. It's funny. It's hard to read at times. It's sad. It's uplifting. It's hopeful. As her students say, "The only reason I'm taking this test is because I like you Ms Wilde."