When I was in fifth grade, I competed in a 4-H public speaking contest. My speech was on the idea of comics as capital-A Art. That’s kind of taken for granted these days, when graphic novels can be named among the finest novels of the 20th Century, but it was an unusual idea coming from a 10-year old in 1975. But I was an unusual kid.
In any case, I’d like to point toward a lovely, heartbreaking short piece called “How I Came to Work at the Wendy’s.” If it had been around when I was 10, I would have used it as evidence.
H/T: The Fourth Checkraise, which also has other nifty links.