Yo, Miss #4: 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. Will a.k.a. Streetz has a deal with a probation offi cer that he must attend school every day. Natalie gets published in an online newspaper, but her father doesn’t care or even want to read it. Jasmine’s mom was a crack addict, and Jasmine is dyslexic and dangerously close to aging out of high school before she gets her diploma. Danny, who calls Wilde “Snowflake,” gets sent to the dean for refusing to move to another desk.We follow Wilde's ongoing adventures as she listens to a student's poem about meeting the father they had never known, who had never been in touch in eighteen years and was now in jail for robbery. Brian reads a fascinating poem, wise beyond his years, about immaturity. Janis gets accepted into a camp to learn how to make radio documentaries, telling the story of her experience from his wheelchair and how other kids treat her. A student goes missing. Will fights not to be kicked out of school and is shot by a rival gang. 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.