"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."

Reading List: Lighter Than My Shadow

It’s December 5th and I know I should be remembering something, but I can’t remember what. I probably forgot someone’s birthday and if you’re reading this… sorry, I think. Anyway, I continue with my reading list of graphic novels about gender biases and struggles, gender-based violence, integration and diversity. It’s a list that started on November 25th and I hope I’ll be able to carry it on till December 10th. Today on the reading list…

Lighter Than My Shadow
by Katie Green

Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She’d sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she’d have to eat it for breakfast.

On the official website of the novel you can get a glimpse of the extraordinary style for the drawings of this extraordinary, highly intimist story, and you can read a preview of the first 30 pages. However, and for once I’m going to contradict my highly digital nature, is a book I recommend in physical form.
The black and white pattern, the scratches for the shadow, ever imposing on the main character, need to be touched and felt under the fingers, for this story that’s all about the perception of one’s body.

lighterthanmyshadow01

But in any life a set of circumstance can collide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly.

lighterthanmyshadow02

Lighter than my shadow starts off as the story of a girl who doesn’t like to eat.
And, if you know me, you might be wondering what the hell does that have to do with me and why would I like something like that.
I have quite a fond relationship with food, that’s true, and I think I can say that it’s also a healthy one. I like to eat, I love Countries with a food culture, I rarely skip lunch as a principle, I very rarely stress eat and I don’t eat outside of main meals. I’ve had friends with eating disorders, though, and I myself know what’s it like to be so psychologically shaken you are phisically unable to eat.
Lighter than my shadow is a story about that.

Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the vulnerable, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

https://youtu.be/Gawf5NMpzwk

“Dear Reader, You are holding the book I wish had been there for me”, writes Katie Green on the back of the volume. “It exists because I wanted nobody else to feel as lost, confused and alone as I felt. I wanted to be honest about how hard recovery is, and how long it takes, at the same time proving that it is possible”.

lighterthanmyshadow04

Ps: if you ever meet a man who shames women that are not super-skinny, telling them that they are fat, kick him hard where it hurts.

Pride Month

Pride Month 2025 – Art of the Day

Saint Wilgefortis and the Bearded Woman of Lützen: Gender Miracles in Devotional Art A crucified female saint — dressed in noble garments, arms outstretched, and crowned with an improbable beard — stares out from the cross not in agony, but in defiant serenity. This is

Read More »
architecture, engineering and construction

Eyes of the City: a dive back into 2019

I know I’m overdue two important posts, one on the Biennale in Venice and one on the Triennale here in Milan, but I’m still digesting many of the things I saw over there. More importantly, I’m working around the concept of adaptive and responsive architecture

Read More »
Pride Month

Pride Month 2025 – Story of the Day

Christina of Sweden: The Queen Who Refused to Be a Woman Crowned queen at the age of six and ruling in her own right by eighteen, Christina of Sweden stood as one of the most enigmatic and transgressive monarchs of the 17th century — a

Read More »
Share on LinkedIn
Throw on Reddit
Roll on Tumblr
Mail it
1 Comment
  • Pingback:Reading list: Ink in Water | Shelidon
    Posted at 00:01h, 07 December Reply

    […] After Lighter than my Shadow, and as I feel that body shaming is one of the forms of violence and abuse we often overlook, on today’s reading list I have another graphic novel about eating disorders and anorexia. […]

Post A Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS

Pride Month 2025 – Art of the Day

Saint Wilgefortis and the Bearded Woman of Lützen: Gender Miracles in Devotional Art A crucified female saint — dressed in noble garments, arms outstretched, and crowned with an improbable beard — stares out from the cross not in agony, but in defiant serenity. This is

Read More

Eyes of the City: a dive back into 2019

I know I’m overdue two important posts, one on the Biennale in Venice and one on the Triennale here in Milan, but I’m still digesting many of the things I saw over there. More importantly, I’m working around the concept of adaptive and responsive architecture

Read More

Pride Month 2025 – Story of the Day

Christina of Sweden: The Queen Who Refused to Be a Woman Crowned queen at the age of six and ruling in her own right by eighteen, Christina of Sweden stood as one of the most enigmatic and transgressive monarchs of the 17th century — a

Read More