Improve : How I Discovered Improv and Conquered Social Anxiety

The Quiet One, by Yiting Lee, (March 2025, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers), $18.99, ISBN: 9780802856418

Ages 4-8

In a busy, noisy classroom, Milly is the quiet one, not sure if she “[had nothing to say] or just didn’t know how to say it”. She’s dreading the upcoming Show & Tell, so she stays in her hideout where she constructs a robot from people’s forgotten castoffs. Milly connects with Arnold, the robot, who gives her space to speak and the courage to speak at Show & Tell. When she freezes up, Arnold is there to support her and her passion for tinkering and talking about Arnold gets Milly past her fear of talking and makes her Show & Tell a hit! Milly, glad to be seen and heard, is part of the class and so is Arnold. The story gently addresses social anxiety and being an introvert in a sea of extroverts. Small illustrative details give readers clues: Milly sits in her classroom library, an open umbrella shielding her from her class; her secret place is “filled with things that people had forgotten”, as if Milly wishes to disappear from view, left among the overlooked toys, equipment, and… stuff. But it’s from this forgotten stuff that Milly creates, tinkering and playing, “making good use” of what she finds to make a ferris wheel for mice and a roller skate train. A diverse and inclusive group of kids make up the class. Watercolor and pencil illustration make for soft colors; endpapers are littered with a plethora of goodies one may find in Milly’s secret hideout. A good storytime read that will pair well with Ashley Spires’s The Most Magnificent Thing.

Improve : How I Discovered Improv and Conquered Social Anxiety, by Alex Graudins, (Sept. 2022, First Second), $17.99, ISBN: 9781250208231

Ages 14+

Graphic novelist Alex Graudins – you may recognize the name from Science Comics and History Comics – uses her pencils to tell her story in this autobiographical graphic novel. Graudins illustrates her history of social anxiety, often at odds with her desire to be part of the “theatre kids” groups. Intrigued by improv, she signs up for improv classes as a way to work through her anxiety and negative self-talk. As she works with others in the group, she learns to work with the ebb and flow of her anxiety spikes. Part autobiographical study and part improv guide, Graudins explains different routines, made more helpful through illustration, letting readers see skits that explain different improv games, including “One Word at a Time”, where partners create a story through alternating words and “Advance & Expand”, where partners direct each other to move the story along (advance) or provide more detail (expand). Graudins is frank about her struggles with depression as well as the camaraderie and support that her improv groups provide. Graudins’s realistic artwork has a cartoon softness – think Raina Telgemeier and Victoria Jamieson – that puts readers at ease. Back matter includes an author’s note, further reading, and additional improv games make up the back matter.

An excellent addition to YA biography collections. Teens will connect with the graphic delivery and appreciate the honest and creative discussions on anxiety. Visit Alex Graudins’s webpage for more of her artwork and webcomics.