Yo Miss: A Graphic Look at High School

The emotional plot elements are more powerful than the primitive art, but overall, this is a touching portrait of the struggles of an inner-city English teacher. Author Wilde has taught at a second-chance New York City high school for the past 16 years. This story, inspired by real events, follows a group of at-risk students—those who have failed or been expelled from other schools—through a year of challenges. Will the kids graduate? Will one girl’s pregnancy prevent her from taking a needed final exam? Will one boy stay in school as needed for his probation? Wilde’s art is rough, but the dialogue generally carries the reader through, and some of the layouts are clever (as when Wilde structures a character list as a pop quiz). She makes the reader root for these kids as desperately as she does, hoping for them to make the right decisions and somehow win. Key questions—including the racial implications of a white teacher in a class made up of students of color—aren’t explored in order to end on a high note, with many students hoping for college. (Mar.)