We are okay by Nina LaCour
University of Queensland Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780702262562.
(Age: 15+) Recommended. Winner 2018 Michael L. Printz Award. This book is a compelling story told by
Marin who is attending college in New York. Isolation is front and
centre from the first page where we find Marin alone in the school
dormitory. Told from Marin's perspective the reader becomes aware of
events through the feelings and memories she acknowledges. Her
determination to close herself off is seemingly impenetrable. She
has convinced school administration that she had no family or
friends to visit for Christmas and so has been permitted to stay in
the school under the indirect supervision of the groundskeeper.
The reader immediately finds this information to be unreliable as
Marin begins to prepare for a three day visit by Mabel, a friend
from Marin's previous life in California. Marin's preparation is
methodical and yet heartbreaking. She spends a day decorating her
side of the dorm room so it will no longer be empty, but give the
appearance of a space belonging to someone who is happy and not the
person who has not responded to Mabel's texts and calls for the past
three months.
Marin's love for Mabel washes over her as she comes to terms with
Mabel's presence - and her boyfriend back in California. LaCour
sensitively describes their past sexual relationship and the
delicate manner in which Mabel establishes new boundaries in their
friendship.
The arrival of Mabel begins the elaboration on grief. The writing is
subtle yet packs a powerful punch as the reader is led to understand
the story of Marin, her mother, her grandfather and Mabel. In the
last chapters of the book the reader cannot help but mourn the
losses with Marin, and feel her hope as her insights shift and she
realises they will all be okay.
This is a powerful book where the themes of grief, first love,
sexuality, family relationships, friendship and solitude are
explored sensitively.
Linda Guthrie