Sometimes working around books is a drawback. Oh sure, I’ve access to almost any book I want, but then again, I have access to almost any book I want! The riches overflow and I keep finding “one more” to look at/read. Due to this, I kept pushing Dear Body by Lea Bordier (with 12 female and non-binary illustrators) aside. Finally, one day I happened to look over at the saddest spot in our store: our return cart. Sometimes it’s necessary to return a book to the vendor, but I was going to give it one more shot and try and read. And it was worth the wait.
Now, I’m not saying it was my favorite book of all time. It might not even be in the top 10, but it is up there in the top 100. You see, it was not what I expected. I am not sure what I expected to be honest, but I was not expecting familiar stories about women who are young, old, short, tall, thin, fat, queer, and all the in-between. I was not expecting women talking in a short essay format about their journey to the understanding of themselves and evolving into loving/understanding their bodies.
We start with a woman in her 70’s and the others range from a teenager coming of age to a person coming to terms with their sexuality and body as a queer person. These people are open, frank and sometimes maybe a bit cliché, but still relevant and relatable. Does it cover every type of person? No, and maybe some people’s stories are repetitive with another in the collection, but the selection is well thought out. Extras tell the history of how things came about as well.