All My Bicycles

POWERPAOLA TRANSLATOR: ANDREA ROSENBERG Fantagraphics In this nonlinear graphic memoir, Powerpaola uses bicycles she's owned as a vehicle to explore the world, her relationships, her memories — and herself. "A bicycle is a machine that you power yourself. You decide where you want to go," writes cartoonist Powerpaola, as the guiding principle of this graphic memoir. All My Bicycles is a story that never really begins, existing all at once in Paola's memory. The book illustrates Powerpaola's relationships through her many bicycles: in fragments, it takes her back to her great loves and losses, friendships, and disappointments. Powerpaola's memories arrive abruptly and leave just as fast, creating a pathway through herself she can only find in moving forward. The art style encompasses Paola's melancholy: the dark and beautiful canvas (spotted with bright yellow) needed to hold Paola's powerful reflections. Whether through the bicycle, the manhole, the alligator, or the necklace, Powerpao