Twelve-year-old Tuva, who lives with her single dad, is starting seventh grade, and has goals: writing a diary, getting a cool look, and building the best fort in the woods with her best friends. But seventh grade is a time of change, as this diary-style graphic novel explores.
Tuva’s best friend Linnea has a boyfriend, is starting to wear makeup, and no longer wants to play in the woods. Tuva’s other best friend, Bao, despises everything related to love. But when Tuva thinks she has found a soulmate and crush in new girl Miriam, she feels different from both of her friends. She’ll never be as cool as Linnea, but she’s not as dismissive of love as Bao.
Misunderstandings and rash words threaten to drive the friends apart. Will they be able to make amends, or have things changed too dramatically?
Happily, homophobia is not a part of the friends’ difficulties, however. There’s even a scene in which the girls matter-of-factly discuss the fact that one of their teachers might be a lesbian—and later, Linnea chastises her boyfriend for a seemingly homophobic remark. The challenges in this story are instead the ones of many young people in the awkward transition time between childhood and the teen years, and author/illustrator Nora Dåsnes explores them with compassion, light humor, and an insightful eye. Highly recommended.
Adults should be aware that one page shows Tuva, shirtless, looking at her flat chest in a mirror; she’s wondering when she’ll start to mature. It’s not at all prurient, as I read it; it feels like a positive depiction of a young person reflecting (somewhat awkwardly) on herself. Some folks may find it inappropriate, however; I mention it so that readers can make their own decisions and those who wish to defend it can be prepared.
Translated from Norwegian by Matt Bagguley.
