Secret Passages

<b>Welcome to an autobiography from another dimension. A wildly inventive cartoonist begins her imaginary memoir -- exploring the girlhood she never had.</b><br><br>Many LGBTQ adults look back on their youth and wonder: what might have been? Growing up “in the closet” tends to produce a sort of double identity, between the inner self and the self seen by the outside world. Now, cartoonist Axelle Lenoir, in her unpredictable and imaginative way, makes this metaphor real.<br> <br><i>Secret Passages</i>, narrated by the adult author, begins with the death of her (male) “cosmic twin.” From there it launches into a rollicking ride of childhood antics, set in 1985 small-town Québec. We get to know Axelle (a rebellious little girl who dreads Grade 1 and is captivated by the spooky forest near the house), her brothers (who share her off-the-charts enthusiasm for cartoons and toys), and their long-suffering parents (who may or may not be aliens).<br> <br>These lively comic-strip style anecdotes, reminiscent of <i>Calvin & Hobbes</i> and packed full of pop-culture parodies, are juxtaposed with surreal twists as Axelle’s existential crisis mutates the narrative, building to a mind-bending climax.