I enjoyed reading about Tillie’s experiences and managed to finish the book in a day. The story is interesting and compelling, which is aided by the simplistic hand-drawn art style. It’s told chronologically and progresses through the years of her life. The story mainly focuses on her skating career and feelings about it, but also touches on her school life, friendships and her sexuality. Spinning goes through Tillie’s life story, covering her ice skating years in both New Jersey and Texas. The hybrid form was definitely something that worked for me, because I feel that without the art, the memoir might have fallen a bit flat. Graphic novels are definitely something I’m familiar with, but memoirs are a bit more of a strange beast to me. Spinning is a graphic memoir, which is a interesting hybrid form that I’ve never encountered before. In reflection since yesterday, some of my thoughts have changed, and my star rating is now lower. This is my full review, expanding upon what I wrote yesterday.
I finished Spinning last night and instantly wrote a mini-review on my Instagram. It all led to one question: What was the point? The more Tillie thought about it, the more Tillie realized she’d outgrown her passion–and she finally needed to find her own voice. But over time, 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 figure skating team, were nowhere close to Olympic hopefuls. It was a central piece of her identity, her safe haven from the stress of school, bullies, and family.
She woke before dawn for morning lessons, went straight to group practice after school, and spent weekends competing at ice rinks across the state. And do it again.įor ten years, figure skating was Tillie Walden’s life.
Weekends were spent in glitter and tights at competitions.
Wake up, grab the ice skates, and head to the rink while the world was still dark.
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