Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell (Top Shelf, 2008)

Nate Powell offers a riveting portrayal of a two adolescents wrestling with varying degrees of dementia. We are first introduced to the grandmother and her hallucinations. Then we find that Ruth and her brother Perry experience varying levels of hallucinations. What seem like innocent fantasies begin to interfere with life as Ruth and Perry enter their teens. Perry learns to cope with his hallucinations. Ruth does not. What seemed to be a magical tie between grandmother and granddaughter--evolves into a life-hindering issue for the young girl. Powell takes the reader into the mind of Ruth. The reader experiences the joy of the fantasies of the girl Ruth; and how the fairy-tale world is not so readily accepted as she steps towards adulthood. Powell as author and artists presents a moving story of dementia and its impacts on all those around.