Be That Way

Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up

Seventeen-year-old Christine keeps a journal of an eventful year in her life in mid-90s, while juggling troubled friendships and looking for love.

It’s January 1, 1996, and high school junior Christine wants more than anything to be that cool girl everyone notices, like her gorgeous best friend, Landry. She usually hates New Year's resolutions, but this year she vows to be that shiny kind of girl—and record it all in her diary through prose, illustration, and comics.

When Landry drops her, Christine is surprised to discover just how much she doesn’t miss her and her drama.  But a misguided kiss with film-obsessed Paul, her only other close friend, also causes a rift, and she finds herself facing a long, lonely summer.

With nothing to lose, Christine finds a new sense of courage. She gets a job at her neighborhood video store, experiments with her art, and becomes romantically entangled with her next-door neighbor Whit, who’s either the coolest guy ever or a total jerk. In spite of all this, she doesn’t quite feel shiny—until a shocking betrayal shows her the value of the words and drawings she hides in her diary, and she finally understands that she doesn’t need to be cool to be noticed—she only needs to be herself.

Eisner-award winning author and illustrator, Hope Larson, has created a powerful coming-of-age story set in a time before the Internet that explores themes of betrayal, first love, self-expression, and the power of art.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

About the Author

Hope Larson is the Eisner Award winning author of Salt Magic, illustrated by Rebecca Mock. She has also written and illustrated many graphic novels including the Eagle Rock series (All Summer Long, All Together Now, and All My Friends). She adapted and illustrated A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel, which spent forty-four weeks on the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list and for which she also won an Eisner Award. She is also the author of Compass South (A New York Times Bestseller), and its companion volume, Knife's Edge, both illustrated by Rebecca Mock. She lives in North Carolina.

Author Residence: North Carolina