Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections, and Illustrations

Worry runs through this inviting volume of ruminations on identity and self-acceptance from illustrator Sun (Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too). While taking a break from being “constantly productive,” Sun ended up writing these brief (sometimes just sentence-long) thoughts. The brevity, he notes, reflects that “we are all burnt out and don’t have enough time as it is.” Sun explores his anxiety and his need to feel productive, as well as his relationships to change, loss, and his family and friends. “You are allowed to mourn change,” he writes. “You can mourn an old home that is gone, or a world that has changed so imperceptibly until one day it no longer feels familiar.” Quirks run throughout, such as a subtheme of caring for houseplants, which acts as a connective thread to his parents (who take care of a cactus the author thought had died), and to different cities where he travels (“And so, now... it has become a coping mechanism to look for plants that I recognize from elsewhere”). While full of reflections, each section is so self-contained as to feel scattered and, at times, lacking in depth. Nevertheless, the author’s fans will no doubt appreciate these musings. Illus. (Apr.)