Skim

Compared to La Perdida I found myself enjoying Skim more. I think it was easier to follow and the pictures weren't as busy. The first thing that caught my eye was the children's award the book won. I was thinking "how could this be classified as a children's book?" "Shouldn't this book be read before put in that section?"

Skim was an interesting character. To me, she was shown as a typical teenage girl trying to figure out who she was. She did not want to get caught up in any of the "trends." After Katie Matthews boyfriend kills herself I found it stereotypical to focus heavily on the girl who was seen as a goth. It was ironic how the whole school was freaking out about the suicide while Skim was in her own world interested in Ms. Archer.

The relationship between Ms. Archer and Skim was very brief and awkward. It was hard to tell if it was real or just imagined. I think the kiss was a real thing. Maybe Ms. Archer moved away to save her reputation and maybe she saw that she crossed the line with smoking with a student and kissing her.

The ending was abrupt but I was okay with it because it was a journal. It was supposed to be seen as Skim's thoughts. In a journal/diary thoughts are random and can end at any point. I thought that was clever how the author worked that in.