This latest release from author and illustrator Elise Gravel has something wild, weird, and wonderful for everyone – whether the 90s is when you grew up or feels like ancient history. At 188 colourful pages, True Colors is a novella-sized exploration of tweendom via the diary entries of a re-imagined Gravel, and ultimately a look at how the brain of a young girl with anxiety and ADHD processes the world around her. 

With her signature writing style and instantly recognizable artwork, Gravel takes us on a journey through her formative years, discussing everything from mixtapes and study planners to Milli Vanilli, friendships, changing bodies, hobbies, and struggling with how to fit in. Along the way, we are given an inside look at her “unhinged” brain, which is constantly full of questions and  weird facts, auto-deletes important information, and is often just too busy to fall asleep. 

In an afterword, Gravel reminds us that there wasn’t much info available on ADHD in the 90s, and girls were rarely, if ever, thought to be affected. Looking back through the lens of her recent diagnosis, she writes her main character with compassion, understanding, and just the right touch of humour – giving herself and her readers permission to be “quirky” and find their own path through life. 

Ultimately, True Colors is an ode to the ups and downs of early adolescence, and the value of finding friends who help each other shine. mRb