Review: Dancing at the Pity Party
Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Judith S. Greenblatt Tyler Feder got it right. Her graphic novel “Dancing at the Pity Party: a Dead Mom Graphic Memoir” is first and foremost honest about a subject we shy away from discussing. In the spring of Tyler’s sophomore year at college, her very special Mom, aged 47, dies. We are told the whole story in this book that is also heart felt and heart warming, very sad, and very funny. Yes, you will cry, but you will also laugh. We meet Tyler’s Mom, then follow the unfolding story, from first symptoms to diagnosis, death, burial, and, importantly, forever after, including those important firsts in the new and strange world of no Mom. This is a warm and loving family, portrayed with all its quirks. We learn what about Mom’s illness and death, but even more important we get to know Tyler’s and her family’s responses. A wonderful, refreshing honesty can be felt throughout the b...