Graphic Novel Memoirs - Stitches

Welcome to Interrobang Book Club's Graphic Novel Memoirs Summer Series 2026. We will read graphic novel memoirs from three unique writers covering a wide range of life experiences. From finding joy during war, to healing from a traumatic childhood, to starting uncomfortable conversations, these writers show us what it is to be resilient and deeply human. Join us!

Schedule
June 14, 2026 - I Remember Beirut and A Game for Swallows, by Zeina Abirached
July 12, 2026 - Stitches, by David Small
August 16, 2026 - Good Talk, by Mira Jacob

General overview of a meeting
Our meetings start with an icebreaker question and a chance for each person to introduce themselves. We then move to rating the book with a thumbs up/down/sideways. We spend most of the meeting discussing the book, including strong opinions, questioning why the author made the choices they did, personal reactions to the story and characters, and wondering how it could have been improved. You don't need to finish reading the whole book to come to the meeting! However, if you haven't finished the book, please be OK with hearing spoilers.

To find us, look for the bookish people with a copy of the book displayed on the table!

Dues Announcement
Starting in January 2026, we will start collecting dues at each meeting to cover costs such as Meetup/Bookclubs.com fees and paying for special meeting locations. Donations can be made with cash (preferred) or through a Ko-Fi link. Suggested donation is 2 per person per meeting but never required. We happily accept more in dues in order to cover costs for those who cannot contribute. Our goal is to keep the club accessible to all.

Description of the Book - Stitches
One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had cancer and was expected to die.

In Stitches, Small, the award-winning children's illustrator and author, re-creates this terrifying event in a life story that might have been imagined by Kafka. As the images painfully tumble out, one by one, we gain a ringside seat at a gothic family drama where David—a highly anxious yet supremely talented child—all too often became the unwitting object of his parents' buried frustration and rage.

Believing that they were trying to do their best, David's parents did just the reverse. Edward Small, a Detroit physician, who vented his own anger by hitting a punching bag, was convinced that he could cure his young son's respiratory problems with heavy doses of radiation, possibly causing David's cancer. Elizabeth, David's mother, tyrannically stingy and excessively scolding, ran the Small household under a cone of silence where emotions, especially her own, were hidden.

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