My Friend Dahmer

A national bestseller, Derf Backderf's Alex Award winner My Friend Dahmer is the bone-chilling graphic novel that inspired the major motion picture starring Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer. You only think you know this story. In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer-the most notorious serial killer since Jack the Ripper-seared himself into the American consciousness. To the public, Dahmer was a monster who committed unthinkable atrocities. To Derf Backderf, "Jeff" was a much more complex figure: a high school friend with whom he had shared classrooms, hallways, and car rides. In My Friend Dahmer, a haunting and original graphic novel, writer-artist Backderf creates a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a disturbed young man struggling against the morbid urges emanating from the deep recesses of his psyche-a shy kid, a teenage alcoholic, and a goofball who never quite fit in with his classmates. With profound insight, what emerges is a Jeffrey Dahmer that few ever really knew, and one readers will never forget. Find teaching guides for My Friend Dahmer and other titles at abramsbooks.com/resources. Also available by Derf Backderf: Trashed Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio