Plot: A newspaper comic strip following the (mis)adventures of Jeremy, a fairly average 15-year-old boy. He shares his story with his understanding but clueless mother, his strict but goofy father, his best friend Hector, his on-again-off-again girlfriend Sara, and a host of other high school characters. Most of the comic focuses on strange, over-the-top situations, but it also brings up important issues such as peer pressure, school pressure, parental pressure, and life in general pressure. Still, it manages to focus on the real-world concerns of teens while allowing them to realize the strangeness and humor in this weird stage of life.
Genre: Comics
Reading Level: Ages 11 and older
Similar Titles: Foxtrot, Luann
Personal Thoughts: I like how the situations remind me of my teen years while messing with my expectations of the time. By this, I mean that it plays on the stereotypes while exposing more likely outcomes to the situations. True, with his high grades, good looks, band ability, and technological wizardry, Jeremy does have the potential to become a Mary Sue (see my notes for Seekers for further details), but his impatience, spaztic behavior, insecurity, and tendency to get in trouble quickly remove him from the danger. As a side note, Charles Schultz, the author of Peanuts, apparently said "Zits is the worst title for a comic since Peanuts" (he never did like the title given to his work by newspapers). It may take some work to get readers over the misconception of the comic's title, but it is well worth the effort.
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