 | Kirby's Lessons For Falling (In Love) Author: Gao, Laura | |
| Price: $15.57 | ||
Summary:
Once dubbed the Queen of Balance as her school’s top rock climber, Kirby Tan suffers an injury that sidelines her for the rest of the season. Now she’s forced to join the newspaper club for some desperately needed extra credit. Worse, she’s recruited by crystal-wearing, tarot-reading Bex Santos for her astrology-based love advice column. In graphic novel format.
Reviews:
Booklist (+) (03/01/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 03/01/2025 *Starred Review* Kirby Tan is falling, her body leaving the climbing wall and crashing onto the mat as her ears fill with the sound of broken bone. Injured and unable to keep climbing, she needs to join another student club, but who’s looking for newbies? A new astrology column in the student paper needs a coeditor, though astrology is not Kirby’s forte. Neither is love, but her first day in the newsroom is a twister of just that, as she meets coeditor Bex Santos, who’s out, proud, and carries a list of anxieties. In a new space so not like the climbing gym, can the Queen of Balance find her footing once more? Featuring a queer Asian American lead, this story is set in a dynamic North Texas, where trans icons, pride nights, church ladies, and Jesus freaks exist side by side. Gao beautifully illustrates a connection to another land, with Chinese fields full of jicai mirroring the iconic bluebonnets in bloom. Gao’s enchanting drawings are atmospheric, with carefully drawn line art giving way to brilliant climbing walls and blossoming flowers, with a pallet of blues, pinks, and blacks that pop from the page. Gao’s ability to create a realistic depiction of adolescence—of teenagers troubled with grief, familial expectations, spirituality, and what comes next—is exceptional. As Bex tells us “y’all means all,” and all libraries serving teens need this comic. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
