Synopses & Reviews
In the tradition of Persepolis and American Born Chinese, a wise and funny high school heroine comes of age. Tina M., sophomore, is a wry observer of the cliques and mores of Yarborough Academy, and of the foibles of her Southern California intellectual Indian family. She's on a first-name basis with Jean-Paul Sartre, the result of an English honors class assignment to keep an “existential diary.” Keshni Kashyap’s compulsively readable graphic novel packs in existential high school drama — from Tina getting dumped by her smart-girl ally to a kiss on the mouth (Tina’s mouth, but not technically her first kiss) from a cute skateboarder, Neil Strumminger. And it memorably answers the pressing question: Can an English honors assignment be one fifteen-year-old girl’s path to enlightenment?
Review
"Keshni Kashyap's words and Mari Araki's illustrations combine to wonderful effect in this honest and funny graphic novel." Entertainment Weekly (Must List)
Review
"Tina Fey's snarky humor in a teenager's body and we really can't get enough." Nylon Magazine
Review
"Slangy and funny and honest, like a mix of John Hughes, J. D. Salinger and Marjane Satrapi." The A.V. Club
About the Author
Keshni Kashyap was raised in Los Angeles, California. She studied literature at Berkeley and film at UCLA. Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary is her first book.
Illustrator Mari Araki, an artist and storyteller, was raised in Ishikawa, a suburb of Kanazawa. She is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and lives in Southern California.