"Theodore is an adorable everyman who falls into the dreaded vortex of insurance claims-no creature this cute should have to suffer what millions of Americans go through right when they need help the most. In one crafty panel after another, Founds wittily eviscerates this mess with tenderness for its hapless victims and merciless venom for the profiteers. Bipolar Bear is biting satire and call for action presented in some of the most captivating illustrations I've ever seen."- Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen and Stop That Girl!

"A clever and compelling allegory, Bipolar Bear makes us think deeply about social justice and healthcare reform through the misadventures of a lovable bear named Theodore who gets caught in the dark underbelly of our problematic insurance industry. With beautiful art that is at once playful and evocative, this graphic novel is as humorous as it is enraging. Theodore and the supporting cast of lovable animals manage to make the issues only all the more human. Founds has written a perfect fable for our times." - Liza Monroy, author" of The Marriage Act

"A satire with heart." - Vanessa Diffenbauh, author of The Language of Flowers

"Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance is, I promise, unlike any book you've ever read - like all of Kathleen Founds's work, it is full of delight and sorrow, of lightness and profundity, of silliness and deep intelligence, often all on the same page. I so admired the brilliant and capacious imagination on display in these pages." - Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao

"Kathleen Founds is a luminous, bright, subversive, and very funny writer. What I especially love about her work is the sense that her strange and wonderful talent is always working in the service of a deeply humane and hopeful vision of the world."
-George Saunders, author of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

“[A] richly illustrated, darkly funny fable for adults about the country’s dysfunctional health system.”

―Rachel Scheier, Kaiser Health News

"This delightful, effortless read keeps us happily afloat over some serious and deeply consequential terrain. Plus wonderful pictures!" - Karen Joy Fowler, Man Booker Finalist and author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

"Kathleen Founds is one of my favorite young writer-artists in America, and Bipolar Bear-by turns hilarious and heart-breaking-is her finest work yet. I loved this book." - Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of A Sense of Direction

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -- A bear faces the baffling complexities of health insurance in Founds’s wacky but pointed debut. Theodore, a bear, lives in the forest. Tired of his wild mood swings, he follows the advice of a chachalaca to get medicine from town. After a long journey, a pharmacist lists all he needs to gather before he can issue meds: a prescription, a doctor, insurance, and money. Theodore gets a job in a grocery store, but he has to wait a year for insurance. His relief at eventually getting pills quickly sours when a massive bill follows, which leads him into the labyrinth of health insurance claims (“To file a new claim, cross the jungle of man-eating plants to your left”) and a brawl with the literal fat cats who run the insurance company, under the direction of mangy Baroness Von Stinkleshanks. A dejected, defeated Theodore returns home and is arrested when he cannot pay an old fine for digging through the dumpsters to survive. During an exuberant manic state, Theodore concocts a scheme with fellow inmates to escape, which brings about strange new alliances and a slightly hopeful future. The art is simplistic with mostly full-page panels, and is bright with what looks like colored pencil or crayon, reminiscent of a storybook. Indeed, the style makes the point that the state of America’s healthcare is so absurd it should be a story to frighten children. It’s zany with a zinger of a political message.[em] (Nov.) [/em]