Calvin - Martine Leavitt

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⭐ 7.5/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

This book has three main things going for it: lots of Calvin and Hobbes references, the main character has schizophrenia, and the book is set in LEAMINGTON. As in Leamington, Ontario! The setting doesn't play a big role and it was pretty obvious the author has never actually been to Leamington, but the words Leamington, Point Pelee, and Lake Erie were all in the book, so that was exciting!

It's about Calvin, who was born the day Bill Watterson published his final Calvin and Hobbes comic, so he's always felt a connection with them. And then one day he starts hearing Hobbes speaking with him, and after he freaks out in class, he's diagnosed with schizophrenia. He decides he needs to meet Bill, so he's going to walk across frozen Lake Erie to meet him with Hobbes and his friend Susie, who he might also be imagining.

This is a super short book, mostly about that icy trek over a couple days. Calvin is funny, if kind of pretentious, and it was fascinating learning some more about schizophrenia. I quite enjoyed it.

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