あらすじ
I think comic strips can enlighten as well as entertain. Adolescence is a very funny time, except when you're in it. Many teens feel alone in their struggles; I want to show them that adolescence may be scary but it isn't fatal. Finding the humor amid the horror is helpful." Luann DeGroot is a 16 year old girl who's full of spirited personality-and agonizing confusion. Like all teens, she's happy if she can stumble through a day without totally embarrassing herself. She lives with typical parents and an annoying older brother. Luann and her best buds, Bernice and Delta, along with a lively cast of characters from Pitts School, struggle with the euphoric highs and devastating lows that torment the life of a contemporary teen. From small events (a pop quiz) to large (a daring fire rescue), Luann 3 delivers the kind of poignant, honest, amusing stories that have made Luann a reader favorite for 21 years. Luann is featured in 400 newspapers worldwide, and LuannsRoom.com receives 80,000 hits a day. Luann consistently ranks in the top five in newspaper surveys and is often number one with female readers. Luann, the Musical, from Pioneer Drama, has been performed by hundreds of theater groups across the country.
作品考察・見どころ
グレッグ・エヴァンスが描くルアンの世界は、思春期という「当事者には悲劇、俯瞰すれば喜劇」という残酷で愛おしい季節を真摯に捉えています。単なる少女の日常に留まらず、自己葛藤や他者との距離感をユーモアという救いで昇華させる筆致は実に見事です。読者は彼女の失敗に苦笑しながらも、そこに自身の魂の断片を見出し、深い共感へと強烈に誘われるはずです。 本作の真髄は、日常の躓きを「恐ろしいが致命的ではない」と肯定する誠実さにあります。コミック・ストリップという形式でありながら、そこには青春の光と影が鋭く凝縮されており、読む者に「自分は一人ではない」という静かな勇気を与えてくれます。長年支持される理由は、この作品が揺れ動く十代の魂に寄り添い、孤独を温かな笑いに変える普遍的な力を持っているからに他なりません。


