LOVE LOVE LOVE. It probably helps that I, too, took an existentialist literature class in high school, but seriously, I wish I could just follow Tina through life. We would have totally been friends. ( )

Totally spot on graphic novel about being a teenager. Loved and completely related to the Indian-American angle too. ( )

Tina, an Indian-American teen living in southern California, is assigned a class project to keep an existential journal--a "Who Am I?" sort of deal. In her diary (with the salutation "Dear Mr. Jean-Paul Sartre", the dead philosopher), she first answers this question at the surface level; she's 15, the youngest of 3 children, a student at Yarborough Academy. But over the course of a semester, we see her define her personal truths as she experiences being ditched by her best friend, getting the lead in the school play, and seeking her first kiss and maybe boyfriend. Though I found the story arc of this graphic novel to be rather predictable, I love that it features a teenage girl of color as its main protagonist. Tina's cultural heritage is embedded throughout the book, but ultimately she's a "normal" teenage girl trying to figure out who she is and what she wants. ( )

Fun artwork. ( )

Really liked it, even though I swear the plot has to have been done ten million times already. The existential examination and Indian protagonist are a great focus, but really: Inseparable best friends become teenagers, one dumps the other to hang out with cooler people. Dumped friend finds new, previously unnoticed friend. Friend who dumped her realizes that her new friends aren't real friends, comes back and ends up forming trio with dumped friend's new friend. Optionally, at some point one of them finds the guy they liked hooking up at a party with a girl they'd thought was their new friend, which is probably what triggers the original friends' reunion. I feel like I've seen so many movies with that plot, and while I can't think of any yet, I definitely know it's the premise of a Babysitters Club book. Probably also Sweet Valley.