LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Some Lima City School District students learn they can be anything they want to be. That from graphic novelist Joel Christian Gill, whose book "Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence" was cited as one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by the New York Times.

Graphic novelist shares his story with Lima City School students

"Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence" was cited as one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by the New York Times.

Gill is making stops around the district to share his story about beating the odds of his childhood to become a successful author and illustrator.

Graphic novelist shares his story with Lima City School students

Gill will be speaking to Lima City Schools classes through Wednesday.

"What I was trying to do is show people that the fighting I was doing as a kid was a result of the sexual abuse, the racism, the poverty that I was going through, and how I was acting out as a kid. And so I was talking to them about, like, what happens when the trauma comes out because kids don't have the tools to basically say to you, this is what's happening to me right now. And so they act it out, and so that's what I was trying to show. Trying to explain to them that that's what was happening in my life, and that's how I survived that trauma," said Joel Christian Gill, visiting author.

Graphic novelist shares his story with Lima City School students

Gill is making stops around the district to share his story about beating the odds of his childhood to become a successful author and illustrator.

Gill will be speaking to Lima City Schools classes through Wednesday.

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