You Belong Here

Jewish teen Essie Rosen just wants to get through her senior year so she can finally leave Long Island to study acting at NYU. In the meantime, she plans to hang out with her Black boyfriend Bruno while treading carefully around her parents as the family navigates Essie’s older brother Gabe’s rehabilitation treatment for substance dependency. Her plans don’t go the way she expects, though, and soon Bruno has broken up with Essie and she’s cast opposite Chinese American Christopher, the brother of Gabe’s former drug dealer, in the school play. But while her carefully planned future doesn’t look so crystal-clear anymore, she remains optimistic, writing in her AP English journal, “I hope that I’m brave enough to let life take me to unexpected places.” Moody, monochromatic watercolor illustrations by Beem (Crashing)—arranged in simple frames that use varying perspectives to highlight intense emotion—render a racially diverse school community, with whom Essie navigates numerous shifting relationships. Debut author Miller’s perceptive storytelling highlights Essie’s ability to steadfastly maintain her autonomy as her romances with Bruno and Christopher unfurl in this solidly crafted graphic novel examination of existential angst and future anxiety. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)