TY - BOOK AU - Espé AU - Chute,Hannah TI - The Parakeet SN - 9780271090078 PY - 2021///] CY - University Park, PA PB - Penn State University Press KW - COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Nonfiction / Biography & Memoir KW - bisacsh KW - ECT KW - anxiety KW - bipolar depression KW - childhoodtrauma KW - coping KW - drawing comics KW - effect on children KW - electroshock therapy KW - mental illness KW - post-partum depression KW - rebirth KW - schizophrenia KW - strait jacket KW - suicide N1 - Frontmatter --; Teeth --; The Shirt with the Belts --; Grandpa --; Baby Blues --; The Es-tinguisher --; Mama’s Tried Everything --; Girlfriends --; Electroshocks --; School Friends --; Chestnuts --; Jean Grey --; The Social Security Inspector --; The Circus --; Wallpaper --; Cushions --; Spring Break --; The Visit --; Daddy --; At Breakfast --; The Parakeet; restricted access N2 - Bastien is eight years old, and his mother is ill. She often has what his father and grandparents call “episodes.” She screams and fights, scratches and spits, and has to be carted away to specialized clinics for frequent treatments. Bastien doesn’t like it when she goes, because when she comes home, she isn’t the same. She has no feelings, no desires, and not much interest in him. According to the doctors, Bastien’s mother suffers from “bipolar disorder with schizophrenic tendencies,” but he prefers to imagine her as a comic-book heroine, like Jean Grey, who may become Dark Phoenix and explode in a superhuman fury at any moment.Based on the creator’s own childhood experiences, The Parakeet is the story of a boy whose only refuge from life’s harsh realities lies in his imagination. In his eyes, we see the confusion and heartache he feels as he watches his mother’s illness worsen and the treatments fail. Through his eyes, we see how mental illness can both tear families apart and reaffirm the bonds of love. Poignant yet playful, The Parakeet follows Bastien’s struggle to accept the mother he has while wishing for the mother he needs UR - https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271090078 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780271090078 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9780271090078/original ER -