Jennifer’s Journal: The Life of A Suburban Girl, Vol. 1

In this first volume of her comic memoir, Cruté catalogues the hilarities, absurdities, and day-to-day trials of an African-American girl growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey in the 1980s. The coloring-book vibe and looseness suits some, but not all, of her tales, which range widely: humorous family anecdotes, her grandma’s number-one home remedy (Vaseline), encounters with casual public racism, her father’s numerous infidelities, and her struggles to find the right spiritual path. Crute’s anecdotes are intriguing, but much of the time they feel more like scattered incidents in her life, rather than full-blown stories. Her style of cute character drawings also struggles to pair appropriately with the content at times. While some stories (such as her finding and eating cake out of a trash can) are perfect, others (such as her parents’ fierce arguments or her mother’s physical abuse) seem diminished by the seemingly carefree drawing style. Here’s hoping the tone will smooth out in future volumes. (May)