One Potato Review

This is a book about a specific medical condition which is nevertheless variously described as wandering, traveling, or lazy eye, depending on who’s doing the describing. The girl with the condition doesn’t think it’s a problem at all (travelin’ is her approximation of how it helps her to be consider two things at once, not always constructively), in fact it’s easy to develop a rooting interest in her disability. Things work out okay in the end – after a couple of brushes with intolerant classmates, a slightly overbearing teacher, and the genially evangelizing Dr. Dave – though it’s tempting to also read this as a story of the scrapping, impractical artist’s concessions to society. Either way, there’s never a trace of self-pity here, and this is – importantly – an inspired bit of illustrating, especially the middle parts when Jenny Sue agrees (okay, she’s forced) to wear a patch over her travelin’ eye and thinks she sees an elephant in a tree, among several other mirages. Heart-breaking, if it weren’t so optimistic first.