Hey Portland, don’t miss a talk with Briana Loewinsohn! She’s coming to town to celebrate the release of Raised By Ghosts, her brilliant YA graphic novel that’s a love letter to family and all of the messy complexities they come with! She’ll be in conversation with Thien Pham, the artist behind many delightful books, including Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam!

Set in the author’s own teenage years, Raised By Ghosts begins in 1991 with semi autobiographical Briana in middle school. Classes are a bummer, but lunches are worse; either spent alone, or being teased. Traditionally a good student, Briana is not doing well in her academics, but keeps it a secret. Her parents (divorced) are a mess, and largely absent. She spends a lot of time by herself. By high school, she makes friends, and those connections are her only source of happiness as they help each other navigate adolescence. But life at home with each parent remains fraught. When her relationships at school begin to falter, she has no one to turn to, forcing Briana to grapple with her sense of self-worth, her longing for belonging, and her desire for authenticity in her relationships.

Raised By Ghosts is a powerful, affecting graphic novel for young adult readers. The story is told by shifting between Briana’s first-person class notes and diary entries. In her understated yet masterful approach to comics storytelling, Loewinsohn eschews dramatic confrontations and overt sentimentality, preferring instead to underscore the idea that sometimes acceptance and love can be communicated through quiet, everyday moments and close family bonds.

WHO: Briana Loewinsohn and Thien Pham
WHAT: Book reading and release party
WHEN: Friday February 7, 5-7pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 1223 Lloyd Center

“Lovely and atmospheric, Raised by Ghosts is a potent trip back to the 1990s. I could feel myself unfolding one of Loewinsohn’s handwritten notes.” — Rainbow Rowell, NYT bestselling author of Eleanor & Park