Navigating with You (book) by Jeremy Whitley, Cassio Ribeiro, and Nikki Foxrobot
Bibliographic Information
Title: Navigating With You
Author: Written by Jeremy Whitley, Illustrated by Cassio Roberio, and Lettered by Nikki Foxrobot
Publisher: Maverick
Copyright Date: August 13, 2024
ISBN: 978-1952303609
Page Count: 220
Genre/Format
Fiction/Graphic Novel
Reading Level/Interest Level
6th grade+ (School Library Journal)
Awards
None currently
Summary
Gabby and Neesha are two teenagers navigating a new high school in North Carolina when they discover they both read part of the same manga series a few years prior. They decide to start a book club to re-read the series and finish it only to discover that neither of them has the physical books and they are out of print. They begin an adventure to find the seven books in the series and their friendship begins to blossom into something more. Gabby has a boyfriend back home in Florida, and she is dealing with the recent death of her mother and Neesha is navigating life as a teen with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, though.
About the Creators
Author: Jeremy Whitley
Whitley is a writer from Durham, NC. His first comic, Princeless, was published in 2010 and was nominated for an Eisner. He wrote a follow-up to that book called Raven Pirate Princess. Other books include The Dog Knight, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and The Cold Ever After. He has also written for many other series, including multiple Marvel stories, “Sea of Thieves,” “Vampirella,” and “My Little Pony” (Whitley, n.d.).
Illustrator: Cassio Riberio
Ribeiro is a Brazilian comic creator and illustrator. Ribeiro’s other work includes comics, “Iris Complex” and “Sara Animals” (Simon & Schuster, n.d.).
Letterer: Nikki Foxrobot
Foxrobot is a digital letterer for comics, graphics, and sequential art. She currently lives in Canterbury, England (Foxrobot, n.d.).
Critical Evaluation
I loved this book! I even cried a few times. It was a very sweet teenage romance, but the teenagers both had real stuff going on in their lives. I loved the depth of the two main characters, and I loved their parents and the relationships shown. Gabby’s boyfriend back home played the bad boyfriend trope a little too well in my opinion, but I guess they do exist. It was incredibly easy to see why he was a jerk, and it would have been nice to see why Gabby was with him to begin with. The romance the girls share is slow to develop as they learn how to support each other, and I love that they have a healthy relationship.
The story is interrupted seven times with black and white pages of the manga series the girls are reading (there are seven books), and when I first turned the page and found it, I was a bit annoyed because I wanted to get back to their story, but a few books in, and I was hooked on the series they were reading just as much as I was in their story.
“This healing slice-of-life graphic novel lights a bright path for LGBTQIA+ romance plots by including characters with intersectional experiences. A must-have for all collections.”
Creative Use for a Library Program
The two teenagers in this book visit a comic con to meet the author of the manga they started reading together. The library can host a mini comic con and encourage teenagers to dress up and share their favorite graphic novels, comics, and manga.
How I felt reading this book <3
Speed-Round Talk
Neesha and Gabby both start at a new high school in North Carolina when they become fast friends over a shared history of a manga series. They form a book club to discuss the books, but when they figure out that neither of them actually has any of the books and they are out of print, they must go on an adventure to find all seven copies. Will their friendship turn into something more, and will they be able to track down all seven books?
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation
There isn't a reason this book should be challenged. However, folks who have challenged books without reading them because they are about LGBTQ people or people of color may feel the need to challenge it. It features consensual kissing, and a heartwarming romance that allows two young adults to support each other.
Reason for Inclusion
Sometimes we all just need a book that feels like a warm hug, and this book featuring a disabled, queer, person of color who falls in love with another person of color struggling with mental health issues will feel like that to many teens.
References
Whitley, J., Ribeiro, C., & Foxrobot, N. (2024, August 1). Navigating with you. Maverick.
Forbes, R. (2024, August 1). Navigating with you [Book Review of Navigating with you by Whitley, J.). School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/review/navigating-with-you
Foxrobot, N. (n.d.). Nikki Foxrobot. LinkedIn. Retrieved December 8, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkifoxrobot/?originalSubdomain=uk
Giphy. (2013, March 22). Studio Ghibli smile GIF [Gif]. Giphy. https://giphy.com/gifs/studio-ghibli-Hws7aKoFHS9gs
Simon & Schuster. (n.d.). Cassio Ribeiro: About the author. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Cassio-Ribeiro/222725708
Whitley, J. (n.d.). Whitley built: Worlds crafted with love. https://jeremywhitley.com
*Book Cover Images and Page Images are property of the publisher, Maverick'; taken from Amazon.