09/09/2019
Camden, a cat, spends his time outside of high school stargazing, skate boarding, and listening to death metal with his best friend, Jeremiah. For his part, Jeremiah casually uses gay as an insult and is good at finding ways to get into trouble in their small town; his bad ideas lead the more cautious Camden to try drinking, weed, stealing, and fighting, with dramatic results for Camden. Set in the 1990s, Allen’s (Ohio Is for Sale for adults) world is rendered in a simple, black-and-white cartoon style reminiscent of Matt Groening’s and populated with lightly differentiated anthropomorphic animals. The art offers an avenue into a turning point in Camden’s life as he seeks to discern his desires; scenes that show him experimenting to determine who he is feel honest and offer universality to this consideration of teenage life. In addition, it offers a solid depiction of how specific moments can change in perceived importance, especially when layered identity is part of the mix. Ages 15–up. (Oct.)
"A touching book that is sure to appeal to any reader who has tried to be the person they were meant to be." — BOOKLIST
"Darkly funny." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Painful, awkward, heartbreaking, and hilarious, exactly like adolescence was. A touching story about the bonds of friendship and the uneasy and often uncomfortable process of finding oneself.” – MIKE DAWSON (Freddie & Me, Troop 142)
“THE LONESOME ERA is a sad and sweet tumble through the most chuckleheaded part of adolescence, where wrong choices battle worst choices for dominance under the crushing weight of others’ attempts to sort and define your identity.” — MISS LASKO-GROSS (A Mess of Everything, Escape from “Special”)
"Allen's assured cartooning blends naturalistic dialogue with charming cartoon animals to create a story that's funny, poignant, and deeply relatable." — SOPHIE GOLDSTEIN (House of Women, The Oven)
“Jon Allen has this really interesting style and pacing; it’s very understated.” — THE GUARDIAN
“His droll comic timing and assured, slightly eccentric pacing enlivens any standard ‘burnout roommate’ tropes he draws upon, making for a highly entertaining read.” — THE COMICS JOURNAL
“If there’s one thing that’s certain about Allen, it’s that his comics are going to continue to reach for their own high standards.” — BLEEDING COOL
09/01/2019
Gr 8 Up—Allen tells the story of a young man, Camden, struggling with a painful secret crush on his bad boy best friend Jeremiah. Camden's strong feelings prevent him from recognizing Jeremiah's dangerous tendencies, including drug use, underage drinking, and fighting. This is a painfully sweet story about first love and growing up, yet its lack of nostalgia makes it accessible to teen readers. The characters are anthropomorphic animals (Camden is a cat, while Jeremiah is a monkey), rendered in crisp black-and-white cartoon in easy-to-follow panels. The small, 7x7" format of the book will bring to mind manga. Some readers will feel shortchanged by the brevity of the text, but its short length also makes it a good gateway for newcomers to graphic novels. VERDICT Tackling serious issues, this title is a strong addition to YA graphic novel collections.—Tammy Ivins, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
2019-07-24
The tricky dance of coming out and coming-of-age.
Camden is a cat, an astronomy enthusiast, and totally into his best monkey friend, Jeremiah. Camden is only comfortable writing about his attraction within a journal (one that his sister eventually finds, hinting that she knows and is very supportive). An encounter with an out rabbit selling T-shirts at a death metal concert nudges Camden toward a more open approach to living. He eventually kisses Jeremiah (blaming it on the dreadful cocktails they guzzle in the basement) and is also kissed by a girl who mistakes Camden's politeness as flirtation. Camden ultimately finds his stride as a gay cat, even if he starts by mangling his ankle in a winceworthy accident. A slather of well-placed, well-paced humor (death by exploding testicles, barfing up hot dogs gone bad) gives some relatable grit and grime that make this less out-and-proud proselytizing and more slice-of-life hilarity. Unfortunately, the aggressive, lascivious, delinquent, drug-dealing, casually homophobic character of Jeremiah reflects negative tropes of black people thinly veiled by the form of an anthropomorphized monkey. The black-and-white illustrations in this compact graphic novel feature heavy lines and simple cartoon-style images that evoke the retro 1990s setting.
A story with potential that's unfortunately marred by blatant racial stereotyping. (Graphic humor. 14-18)
