Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

by Mariko Tamaki

Overview

One of FORBES Best Graphic Novels of 2019

On BCCB 2019 Blue Ribbons List

One of NPR's Best Books of 2019

Booklist 2019 Editors' Choice

One of Bitch Media’s Best Queer YA Novels of 2019

Author Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, a graphic novel that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley's dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There's just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy's best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it's really Laura Dean that's the problem. Maybe it's Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever.

Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626722590
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	44,517
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	HL230L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Mariko Tamaki is a New York Times bestselling Canadian writer of comics and prose. She is the co-creator of This One Summer, with Jillian Tamaki, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, with Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, both of which received Eisner Awards and Printz Honors. She also writes superhero stories Marvel and DC Comics. Mariko lives in Oakland.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—Frederica Riley's tall, confident, and effortlessly cool girlfriend Laura Dean is the most popular girl in school. Laura breaks Freddy's heart over and over again, but Freddy still takes her back each time. Doodle, Freddy's BFF, introduces her to Seek-Her, a mysterious medium who echoes what Freddy's friends have been saying: stay away from Laura. But Freddy continues to sacrifice friendships for the sake of a destructive relationship, and consulting advice columnist Anna Vice may be the teen's last chance to listen to reason. Valero-O'Connell's artwork is the best part of this graphic novel. Soft, sweeping lines emphasize Freddy's emotional torment, the unconventional paneling lending itself to the tone of the story. It's not easy for someone in a toxic relationship to be objective, but Freddy manages not only to help herself but also to be there for Doodle, who arguably has the biggest problems of the entire novel. In fact, teenage Doodle's relationship with an adult is glossed over and should have been addressed. However, Tamaki and Valero-O'Connell do bring to life an artful narrative of relationships—old, new, harmful, and healing—and what happens when you learn to navigate them. VERDICT It's frustrating to watch Freddy flounder, making bad decision after bad decision, but there's something endearingly vulnerable about her beautifully drawn experiences that will resonate with teenagers. Consider for medium and large collections.—Michael Marie Jacobs, Darlington School, GA

School Library Journal

★ 2019-03-07
A 17-year-old struggles to navigate friendship and finding herself while navigating a toxic relationship.

Biracial (East Asian and white) high schooler Freddy is in love with white Laura Dean. She can't help it—Laura oozes cool. But while Freddy's friends are always supportive of her, they can't understand why she stays with Laura. Laura cheats on Freddy, gaslights and emotionally manipulates her, and fetishizes her. After Laura breaks up with her for a third time, Freddy writes to an advice columnist and, at the recommendation of her best friend Doodle, (reluctantly) sees a psychic who advises her that in order to break out of the cycle of her "non-monogamous swing-your-partner wormhole," Freddy needs to do the breaking up herself. As she struggles to fall out of love and figure out how to "break up with someone who's broken up with me," Freddy slowly begins to be drawn back into Laura's orbit, challenging her relationships with her friends as she searches for happiness. Tamaki (Supergirl, 2018, etc.) explores the nuances of both romantic and platonic relationships with raw tenderness and honesty. Valero-O'Connell's (Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks, 2018, etc.) art is realistic and expressive, bringing the characters to life through dynamic grayscale illustrations featuring highlights of millennial pink. Freddy and her friends live in Berkeley, California, and have a diversity of body shapes, gender expressions, sexualities, and skin tones.

A triumphant queer coming-of-age story that will make your heart ache and soar. (Graphic novel. 14-adult)

Kirkus Reviews

★ 03/04/2019

Laura Dean is a terrible girlfriend. Self-absorbed and careless, she breaks up with Frederica, 16, for the fourth time, via text message after being caught cheating at a school dance. But Freddy loves Laura Dean, and they’re soon back together—sort of—though Freddy’s relationship myopia renders her isolated and dismissive of her friends, all of whom are struggling with their own issues. A medium tells Freddy to call the relationship quits, but she has no idea how to stop perpetuating her part of the cycle. Bold, clean lines and pink highlights characterize rich art by Valero-O’Connell (the Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy series) as panels breathily dense with the personal details of the characters’ lives morph to suit each meaningful scene. A largely queer and physically and ethnically diverse cast inhabits this vision of teenage Berkeley, and the high school–specific mixture of self-possession and cluelessness with which Tamaki (This One Summer) imbues them lends depth and individuation. This exploration of toxic relationships and social dynamics at the cusp of adulthood is, like its cast, sharp and dazzling. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 14–up. Author’s agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Tamaki and Valero-O'Connell's tender-hearted narrative sings with real, honest emotion that will resonate with anyone trying to figure out love." —The New York Times

"The visual storytelling is precise and thoughtful, and it’s evident that the artist has spent a lot of time designing spaces that feel lived in and characters who immediately exhibit specific personalities... Tamaki excels when she’s writing stories about young women discovering their strength in times of crisis, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me falls right in her creative sweet spot." —the A.V. Club

"Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me is the perfect next read for fans of Love, Simon and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, books about young love and struggling to figure out what it means... It’s exactly the sort of book that a lot of teens need to read to feel a little less alone, and a good gateway graphic novel for fans of Netflix’s new glut of romances or a stepping-stone for readers ready to graduate from graphic novels like The Baby-Sitters Club adaptations to more complicated, nuanced stories." —Paste

"Pithy dialogue is neatly trimmed to speech-bubble size, and the manga-esque styling suits characters to a T, from doe-eyed, love-smitten Freddy to lean, angular Laura...as a cautionary tale or as an invitation to a pity party, this packs catharsis into every frame." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"Touching gently but powerfully on topics of bullying, homophobia, and toxic relationships, this superb graphic novel has its finger on the pulse of teenage concerns." —Booklist, starred review

"This exploration of toxic relationships and social dynamics at the cusp of adulthood is, like its cast, sharp and dazzling."—Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Tamaki explores the nuances of both romantic and platonic relationships with raw tenderness and honesty. Valero-O'Connell's art is realistic and expressive, bringing the characters to life through dynamic grayscale illustrations featuring highlights of millennial pink...a triumphant queer coming-of-age story that will make your heart ache and soar." —Kirkus, starred review

"Relatable, heart-wrenching, and often funny... Black-and-white panel illustrations with pink accents provide additional characterization and feature a cast diverse in race, gender identity, and body type." —Horn Book, starred review

"Tamaki and Valero-O’Connell do bring to life an artful narrative of relationships—old, new, harmful, and healing—and what happens when you learn to navigate them." —School Library Journal

"A stunning visual of spirited young love and relatable characters... Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me will appeal to a variety of readers with its air of real-life romance blended with the search for identity and friendship." —VOYA

From the Publisher