Spinning

by Tillie Walden

Paperback, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

796.91

Genres

LGBTQ+

Graphic Novels and Comics

Comics

Graphic Novels

Publication

First Second (2017), 400 pages

Description

Ignatz Award winner Tillie Walden's powerful graphic memoir captures what it's like to come of age, come out, and come to terms with leaving behind everything you used to know. It was the same every morning. Wake up, grab the ice skates, and head to the rink while the world was still dark. Weekends were spent in glitter and tights at competitions. Perform. Smile. And do it again. She was good. She won. And she hated it. For ten years, figure skating was Tillie Walden's life. She woke before dawn for morning lessons, went straight to group practice after school, and spent weekends competing at ice rinks across the state. Skating was a central piece of her identity, her safe haven from the stress of school, bullies, and family. But as she switched schools, got into art, and fell in love with her first girlfriend, she began to question how the close-minded world of figure skating fit in with the rest of her life, and whether all the work was worth it given the reality: that she, and her friends on the team, were nowhere close to Olympic hopefuls. The more Tillie thought about it, the more Tillie realized she'd outgrown her passion--and she finally needed to find her own voice.… (more)

Media reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Graphic novelist Walden recounts her years coming-of-age as a competitive ice skater. Tillie Walden knew she was gay since she was 5, which was also when she began ice skating. This memoir recounts the years from when she's 11 to when she reaches her late teens, as her life marches on through

fledgling romances, moving halfway across the country, bullying, and various traumas with skating as her only constant. Her story is largely insular, with her family only visible in the periphery, even with regard to her skating. Walden's recollections tend to meander at times, with an almost stream-of-consciousness feel about them; her taciturn introspection mixed with adolescent ennui creates a subdued, yet graceful tone. For a young author (Walden is in her early 20s), she is remarkably adept at identifying the seminal moments of her life and evincing their impacts on her trajectory. Her two-toned art is lovely and spare, utilizing the occasional splash of an accenting color to heighten visual interest. ...

Show Less

User reviews

LibraryThing member foggidawn

A graphic memoir exploring the author’s teen years in the competitive world of ice skating, where she feels increasingly out of place.

I’ll admit it: though I enjoy watching figure skating in the Winter Olympics, I don’t give it much thought during the off years. I know very little of

synchronized skating, and only the tiniest bit more about figure skating. So, reading this was an interesting glimpse into another world. Walden does a good job of conveying her experiences to the layman.

On the other hand, I found the narrative disjointed in places, and I was left with questions that never really got answered. Some of those may be because this is a memoir, and the author herself didn’t know the answers (why did her parents not come to her competitions? Why did she and her mother not get along?), but sometimes an issue was brought up and never resolved, or seemed to be resolved outside of the story somehow.

Those quibbles aside, the artwork is great and the emotion heartfelt. I’d recommend this if it sounds intriguing to you.

Show Less

14 more

LibraryThing member Othemts

Walden's illustrated memoir tells of several years in her childhood when she was a dedicated figure skater and synchronized skater which involved rising early to get to the rink, extensive travel to tournaments, and a discomfort with the performative femininity expected of her. Outside of skating,

Walden moves from New Jersey to Austin, TX and has to adjust to a new school, deal with a bully, and come out as a lesbian. It's an insightful and meditative look back on the choices made in childhood and their long lasting effects.

Favorite Passages:

"I'm the type of creator who is happy making a book without all the answers. I don't need to understand my past fully in order to draw a comic about it. And now that this is a book that other people will read, I feel like it's not really my turn to answer that question. It's for the reader to decide, to speculate, to guess. It reminds me of how in English class in high school we would always talk about the author's intentions in every moment. And I used to always wonder if there was ever an author who really didn't mean any of it, and the meaning found its way in by accident. I think I'm that author."

Show Less

LibraryThing member BillieBook

I get what some other reviewers are saying about the pacing being off, but to me, the "jumping" from event to event felt true to the way that memory works and so made the wor, that much more personal an poignant. I look forward to seeing more work from Walden, be it memoir or a foray into fiction.

LibraryThing member villemezbrown

I found the art quite attractive in its simple, almost minimalist style. I found the story to be quite effectively told though it did lose some momentum in the middle and meander around a bit as it seemed to introduce more elements than the creator could really deal with between two covers, which

is strange to say as it is a very thick and heavy graphic novel. Despite the outward appearance of the physical book it reads quite quickly as Walden uses a decompressed storytelling technique, with most pages laid out in a six-panel grid and many having of only one or three panels. And her story is compelling; I found myself going to sleep much later than intended last night so I could finish.

Show Less

LibraryThing member emeraldreverie

Absolutely fantastic. A raw and beautiful exploration of growth.

LibraryThing member lydia1879

this one is a big, emotional, heavy-hitting memoir. gorgeous monochromatic palette with splashes of yellow.

i see a lot of people saying they're not fans of her work and i'm like ??? ok ??? confused but everyone is entitled to their own opinion it's fine.

this was super close to my own heart. i

felt it. i felt her writing, her pain, her discomfort, her little victories.

great if you are fans of this one summer by jillian and mariko tamaki. (it's even the same colour palette!)

Show Less

LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel

A good story for someone who has been in a sport for a long time and is thinking about getting out. A little bit of reflection on the sport of figure skating, but not much. As an adult, Tillie comes across a bit bratty but from the perspective of a teenager, it's ok.

LibraryThing member LibroLindsay

It's a little weird reading a memoir written by someone born in 1996, but it is so atmospheric...really gets at how complicated childhood can be.

LibraryThing member reader1009

graphic memoir (teen/adult). Beautifully rendered, soulful artwork relates the author's experiences growing up in New Jersey/Texas, coming out, and deciding to stop ice skating and to pursue art.

LibraryThing member AmyMacEvilly

This is not just about ice-skating: Like Bechdel's _The Secret to Super-Human Strength_ there is reflection on the emotional landscape, analysis, and connection to the larger issues in Walden's teen-age (and later) life.

LibraryThing member jennybeast

It's kind of interesting to read a memoir from an author at a young age, but I think it works very well in this case. Walden's wonderful illustrations and specific topic of her years as a competitive ice skater are enthralling, and it gives authentic voice to a young adult audience as well.

LibraryThing member krau0098

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this book as a Christmas gift.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this a lot, not quite as much as "On a Sunbeam" but it was an excellent memoir of Tillie's time growing up as a figure skater. The illustration is beautifully done and watching Tillie

push through middle school and high school trying to figure out what she wants to do was relatable.

Tillie is dealing with what a lot of teens deal with; bullies, friends, school, family. She just has the additional burden of choosing to leave something she's excellent at because she doesn't like how that activity fits in with her personality and the rest of her life. It was an engaging and incredibly easy to relate to story that I really enjoyed.

This brought back a lot of memories of taking my son to ice rinks for hockey all the time and of when he made the decision to stop hockey doing so intensely and focus on other things. It also reminded me of growing up and my decision to stop playing music so intensely and focus on a science career. I feel like most people have this point in their lives where they need to step back and decide what their ability really is in an area and what would make them happy.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this. The illustration is beautiful and the story is engaging and well done. I think this is a graphic novel a lot of people will read and relate to in some way. It's both a memoir of Walden's time in middle school/high school and a coming of age story. I will continue to read Walden's graphic novels as they are released; I really enjoy both her illustration and writing style.

Show Less

LibraryThing member caedocyon

I DID NOT INTEND TO READ THIS IN ONE SITTING, EITHER. I GUESS I HAVE TO READ IT AGAIN. AND CRY EVEN MORE.

LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

"Your life outside the rink shapes how you skate." This is the approach the author took to recall her days of competitive figure skating, focusing not so much on the drama and glitter of the sport as the outside influences of friends, family and her own mental state. In the book, Tillie is a

closeted lesbian who finds and then loses her first love interest. She takes refuge in art and cello although she never seems passionate about either. She's somewhat aloof from the other skaters and depressed, and her relationships with her parents seem distant, especially with her mother. There's no glamour on ice here, just a girl who's skated all her life and isn't sure how to keep up her flagging interest.

Show Less

LibraryThing member fred_mouse

This turned out to be a bit more traumatic in places than expected, but I can see why - it is indeed the memoir of a young woman who had some of the expected experiences

This was published when Walden was 21, and so is a very fresh memory of having been a young skater. Lots of fabulous details --

each chapter begins with the description of a move, some with the feelings associated with that.

warnings: for depictions of attempted sexual assault, homophobia, bullying

Show Less

Fewer