Technolandy

Day 154 (of 2025/26) Highlighting Comic Con – Emilia Strilchuk – Be Yourself! Oh, Not Like That!! @theartofemilia 

Love the title. I saw it on display while at TCAF (Toronto Comic Art Festival) a year ago and kept coming back to it… trying to time it so that I could meat the artist/author (one of the awesome things about going to a ‘real’ comic con!) 

This quickly became my favourite graphic novel of 2025… and one that my kids at home also loved – my youngest in particular said “It’s like she’s writing about me!”  Always great when readers get a chance to “see themselves” in the books they read!

And a great story about having to push back on certain ‘expectations’ that are put upon kids… and connects with a lot of other readings I’ve done this year helping me rethink “definitions of success” and considerations around ‘expectations’. 

So I was excited when I nervously sent an ask to see if Emilia would be interested in being our ‘headliner’ keynote for our school year-end activity: a Comic Con. I’ll admit that I leveraged a hope that she would remember me from TCAF because I had a highly ridiculous bow tie for the event – a literal comic book (flipping pages) on the bow tie… and it did (or at least she was gracious enough to pretend it did!) 

I keep thinking of more and more of our learning community to whom I thought of when reading (and re-reading…) this novel. Also, year one had a target of primary reading (Tytus the Monkey), year two was middle years (Weirdo), and this year seniors… www.emiliastrilchuk.com  

My bigger #BookTok share:

Be Yourself! Oh, Not Like That!! kept pulling me back while I wandered the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The title. The artwork. The vibe. I trusted the instinct… and I’m glad I did.

Later I discovered it had been nominated for Best Small/Micro-Press Book, which made perfect sense after reading it. Emilia Strilchuk tells a thoughtful coming-of-age story about discovering neurodivergence, identity, and self-understanding through a later autism diagnosis.

It’s funny, honest, uncomfortable in the right ways, and deeply recognizable for a lot of readers who have spent time feeling like life was set to “difficult mode.”

The follow-up letters to younger selves, parents, and friends especially stayed with me. Looking forward to seeing what Emilia creates next.