Framed as a letter to Wong's daughter, this candid graphic novel chronicles Wong's difficult transition to motherhood, including immediate postpartum depression. Though her husband does what he can to support her, and her mother tries to help by bringing traditional Chinese food for strengthening new mothers-pickled pigs' feet and ginger, pork liver soup-Wong has trouble bonding, breast-feeding, figuring out how to fill the long days alone with the baby, and functioning in general. Descending into despair, she wonders, "Why am I so bad at this?" Wong confronts her depression and articulates well the ambivalent and negative feelings that are often treated as taboo; one full-page image shows a cutaway of her head thinking such thoughts as "She'd be better off without me" and "Babies are really boring." The spare art consists mostly of simple, sketchy figures with wobbly expressions; while unpracticed, it also feels true to Wong's state of anxiety. This raw but reassuring memoir filled with helpful suggestions to mothers struggling with similar situations and feelings is sure to resonate with many new parents. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Wong addresses this memoir of her postpartum depression (PPD) to her firstborn daughter, whose birth led to the author's first brush with the debilitating illness. With clean, open, black-and-white line comics, Wong illustrates how she completely lost her bearings after giving birth and ultimately found support, learned coping mechanisms, and felt like herself again. Never undermining her feelings or their severity, Wong uses humor to lighten the mood in one-page diagrams of her postpartum body and mind (labeled not for the faint of heart ) and in sharing her embarrassment over the time she was undone by a Coldplay song. She depicts significant expression with tiny adjustments to her simplified faces. In looping white script on an all-black background, Wong devotes a page near the end of her book to perhaps its most memorable message: simply put, I wanted to die, but I'm thankful I didn't. From this easy-reading and welcoming story of Wong's very tough time, readers will understand that suffering from PPD is not unique, and there's lots of help and hope available.--Annie Bostrom Copyright 2019 Booklist