July underwater /

During the hazy days of summer at the end of senior year, Lina and her high-school friends drift apart as they figure out who they want to be. In a mix of diary entries, comics panels, and re-creations of Lina's favorite books, readers get a portrait of the melancholic end of high school. Right before a final party at Lake Ontario, Lina attends a funeral for a friend she lost touch with years ago. Before the party on the island, Lina looks to her favorite books for support: The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith, and The Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf. Maeve also re-creates the famous painting of Ophelia in the water by John Everett Millias. All these characters inform Lina's burgeoning vision of herself, as explained in a flowchart. The scenes where Lina bonds with her friend Cara about their changing lives are particularly resonant. This is an artistically rich book perfect for fans of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World.

In this introspective graphic novella, Maeve (The Gift) spins a tale of loss and self-discovery, connecting a teen's mourning to passages from Virginia Woolf and Patricia Highsmith. Lina, a high school graduate, has plans to celebrate with her classmates, but first must attend the "kinda awkward" funeral of her childhood friend, Alicia. Lina attempts to work though messier emotions around Alicia's death and questions the "role should play," as she "feels a selfish sense of guilt for existing." The book opens quoting Ophelia ("There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance"), with images of water and allusions to drowning repeating throughout. Alicia hangs with friends at a lake but gets "weird vibes" from a male classmate; later she recalls a childhood memory when she and Alicia floated a burning shrine on the lake. Interspersed, Maeve draws Lina "flung out in space" in scenes from The Price of Salt and To the Lighthouse. There's even a chart looping through how the books connect to her conflicted sense of self. Maeve employs colored pencils, ink washes, and brush work, with different hand lettered fonts, flipping between detailed and simplistic character designs to create a raw, diary style. It's organic and unpolished, and will appeal to fans of unusual indie mini comics, with the caveat that readers unfamiliar with the literary touchpoints may find themselves lost. (June)