The Effects of Pickled Herring is a new graphic novel out now for high school and middle school grade kids that has themes of faith, growing up, and generally the intrusive thoughts of being a kid. Written and drawn by Alex Schumacher, this graphic novel is all about self-discovery and acceptance at a tender age when nothing seems to make sense or go your way. A cartoonist’s dream comes true, Schumacher delivers big-time art with a story teenagers can relate to.
Starting with the art, this book is a delight. Schumacker’s style has a cartoonist vibe, albeit this is a long-form story. The design of the characters is unique and appealing, with adults drawn more realistically, while the main character and his sister are drawn with a bit more flair. Choices from sound effects to bold backgrounds that amp up a moment all add to the experience. The sequential storytelling is excellent, with solid decisions regarding layout and the use of gutters. The creativity gets a nice pop from a storybook art style change with pen and weathered paper to a nightmare sequence with trippy stuff in the gutters.
Allan Ferguson’s colors add a nice pop of color. The vibrant choices help make the characters stand out with lovely, nuanced ideas at work. Take, for instance, a moment when our main character is drawing. Through the window comes light, and you can see the beam thanks to a lighter tone across the middle of the panel.
Credit: Mango
A few themes here will help kids feel seen, particularly Schumacher’s look at feeling doubt about being a man. The main character is Micah Gadsky, a twelve-year-old preparing for a dual bar and bar mitzvah with his sister. He doubts himself thanks to the studying not going so great for the bar mitzvah, but also coming-of-age things going on too. Along the way, we learn Micah’s grandmother isn’t quite right as she’s starting to forget things and act more erratic. Thanks to well-written captions, Schumacher does a great job pulling you into Micah’s dilemmas. At times, I cheated and read captions ahead of time due to their readability, and I tried to pin down Micah as the story went on.
One issue I had while reading this graphic novel was the pacing. The themes are good, as is the writing for Micah, but the story tends to drag. Running 256 pages, it sometimes takes many pages to get to the point, be it Micah’s anxiety around inviting a girl to his bar mitzvah or his conflict with his mother. If the story cut to the chase more and ran 200 pages, it might have kept my interest every page of the way.
This graphic novel will be a go-to for rabbis who have kiddos going for their bar mitzvah and families dealing with Alzheimer’s. As a coming-of-age story, Schumacher draws you in with clean and expressive art and a touching story. Many teenagers will find it relatable, while its unique slice-of-life focus sets it apart from the pack.
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