Advance Review: Getting Used To Country Life In ‘Stepping Stones’

Jen is not used to her new life in the country. She loved her home in the city. She loved her dad. She loved her friends. Now she’s out in the middle of nowhere, working on a farm, and her mom’s new boyfriend is weird and demanding. To make matters worse, her new “sisters” Andy and Reese show up every weekend and seem to rule the place while they’re there, especially the older one, Andy. What is Jen’s place in this new status quo?

Stepping Stones from creator Lucy Knisley is perhaps the most real feeling comic I’ve read this year. Jen’s emotions, the characters, and the story all come together in this very visceral manner. I felt every single thing that Jen was going through while reading this while not going through any of the things she’s experienced first hand. It’s a journey.
Jen’s new life is relatable, especially in the modern age. She’s old enough to make decisions for herself, but still too young to have a say as to where she goes or what she does in the scheme of things. She’s in this vulnerable spot in age where she’s just starting to rebel, but can’t do too much in that regard. Despite all this, she finds things that make her happy, like drawing, animals, and a sweet spot in the barn attic with kittens.

Knisley presents real family drama that cuts deep. The most impactful tellings of this comes when we see Jen’s drawings of what happened between her mother and father. The two ultimately drifted apart with the needs and wants of their adult lives pulling them in two very different directions. You can see how they were wrapped up in their own worlds and – at least in Jen’s point of view – didn’t think about how it would affect their daughter. It’s heartbreaking at times.
This isn’t to say that Stepping Stones is a sad drama of a comic. While these moments tug at the heartstrings, they work to humanize the characters and what they’re going through. They put each one of them into perspective, so while Jen is the main character and we see the world through her eyes, we also understand where everyone is coming from.

The one exception to this is Walter, Jen’s mom’s new boyfriend. He’s a little brash at times, making demands of Jen in terms of chores and basically not understanding her at all. His own daughters just kind of go with the flow with him, understanding that he’s a pile of lame jokes and arguments, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. Every character in Stepping Stones learns something and grows except for him. He’s exactly the same as he was in the beginning of the book and that’s super frustrating because he’s probably the one that needed to change the most.
When discussing this with my wife, she pointed out that that’s also part of life. Some people don’t change. They don’t learn a lesson, yet the world keeps spinning. That is true and it could be saying something that the one person that didn’t grow as a character is the white guy. I’m probably looking too deep into this.

In any case, Stepping Stones is a welcoming and warm read. Knisley’s artwork matches that tone perfectly. You instantly sympathize with Jen and her new life. I love how we bounce between her world and her notebook, showing how she sees things. There’s some inventive storytelling here that keeps things fresh.
As frustrating as some of the moments can be (not because of the writing or art, but due to the situations), there’s a fair amount of humor in Stepping Stones. There are many laugh-out-loud moments as Jen struggles to figure out country life from feeding chickens to catching frogs to fleeing from giant snakes (OK, they weren’t that giant), all while dealing with the emotions of a young adult. Jen is a great kid and she really shows it here.

Stepping Stones is an absolute delight. Random House Graphic has been hitting the ground running with its debut list of titles and this one is definitely high on that list. It’s fun, personal, and great all around. I loved this book even though I’m certainly not the intended audience, nor am I anything like the main characters from a demographic perspective. Lucy Knisley creates a very real and relatable story here that should not be missed.
Stepping Stones from Random House Graphic is scheduled for release on May 5^th, 2020. It’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon.