With stars shining in childlike eyes I beseech you to read this book. In fact, buy two copies so you can weep over one while you hug the other. I don't know what it is Lynda Barry has got, but it connects with something in my innermost being. So now you'll run out and buy a copy and feel nothing but a flat line. Warning: results may vary depending on innermost being.

This is a book of comic strips. Which is like saying that Jane Eyre is a book of words. These are no ordinary "tee hee" comic strips, and in fact many of them aren't funny and aren't meant to be. Most strips are heavy on text: teensy little short stories collected to give glimpses into what I swear are real lives of real people. The children (Marlys, Maybonne, Freddie, Arna, and Arnold) collect bugs, write book reports, suffer perils of childhood, befriend neighborhood dogs, groove on life, get crushes...

I give up: I can't explain what it is about these strips that make me feel like I can't breathe they're so perfect. You'll have to get your hands on a copy (see if the library has it, or you could try a used book store) and see if you feel the same way.