Good Girls Go to Hell

In this quirky, episodic debut graphic memoir, Sherman-Friedman recounts growing up in a West Bank settlement in a conservative Jewish family. The somewhat meandering narrative follows Sherman-Friedman—the daughter of a loving but preoccupied rabbi, and the youngest child in a family of seven children—as she struggles through a lonesome childhood into a confusing and rebellious young adulthood. In one scene depicting her religious schooling, she is barred from entering the building for wearing a skirt showing her knees; in another, the principal organizes a prayer circle to help save her as a rumored unbeliever. The expressive and detailed art surprises at every turn, as Sherman-Friedman swings dexterously from layout to layout, mapping out moments of shame, frustration, freedom, confusion, and love. Though she presents herself, the work’s cigarette-smoking, tattooed narrator, as questioning almost everything about her heritage and religion—at risk of alienation and shame—she conspicuously sidesteps explicit opinions on the history and politics encircling her in Jerusalem. While terror threats, settlement evacuations, and protests are represented as backdrop, she portrays herself as a child not fully cognizant of the adult world around her, focused on the sight of an orange ribbon caught on the breeze while oblivious to the politics it represents. Though this has the feel of a work-in-progress, it’s nevertheless a serious and sparkling coming-of-age tale. (Nov.)