In author/illustrator Michèle Fischels's profound, nuanced YA graphic novel debut, Outline, translated from the German by Thomas Mauer, three teens navigate friendship, first loves, and approaching the precipice of adulthood.
Once, it was just Ben and Andreas, best friends, confidants, and occasional wingmen. Then Clara joined their trio, and she and Ben started dating. A scribbled line depicts time passing, and the three are seniors. Ben and Andreas have drifted apart--the former now confident and popular, the latter a lone-wolf hipster. Clara and Ben are still together, but Ben feels a distance growing between them. Meanwhile, the teens must deal with impossible questions: "What are you doing after school?" "Where will you apply?"
Outline's brilliance is in its spare text and use of illustration to develop the plot. Fischels's line is messy and broken, and her characters are delightfully expressive; her scribbly art perfectly depicts their gawkiness and kinetic nature. Ponderous cityscapes and open, abstracted panels add to the sense of space in both the characters' lives and their paths ahead.
Fischels doesn't pull any punches when her illustrations linger on Andreas's abusive sexual relationship with another boy, a situation that sharply contrasts with Ben's and Clara's gentler growing pains. Outline contains subtleties that may demand an older reader, but the portrayal of adolescent experiences will likely ring true for teens thinking about their own futures as well as those who've come out the other side. Fischel's debut may resonate with those who enjoyed Tillie Walden's Are You Listening? or Mariko Tamaki's Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me. --Mariel Fechik DesLaurier, librarian, freelance writer, and music reviewer