We Are Okay

LaCour, Nina. We Are Okay. 2017. 234p. ISBN 978-0-525-42589-2. Available at FIC LAC on the library shelves.

Marin’s single mother died when she was a young child, so she moved in with her grandfather. Living near the beach in San Francisco, Marin met her best friend Mabel in elementary school, and their relationship has over time grown to more than just friendship. During the summer following her graduation, her grandfather dies, which sends Marin into a tailspin. She immediately leaves her house and her possessions to report to college weeks early, and broke contact with everyone including Mabel.

At the beginning of We Are Okay, Marin finds herself alone in her New York college dorm during winter break. Everyone else has left, but she’s got no place to go so she elected to stay behind. With a snow storm coming, Marin is worried, for Mabel, whom she hasn’t seen in five months, tracked her down and is coming to visit her for three days. Three long days where the two of them will be reunited. Marin is anxious. What will they talk about? Will she be able to avoid discussing what led to her hasty departure from San Francisco?

Forced to confront her past and her relationships with her grandfather and Mabel, Marin learns that your family is what you make of it, not what you get when you are born. The isolation caused by winter break and by the storm provides the background for re-examining what it means to be lonely and whether loneliness should be avoided.