LaCour, N. (2017). We are okay. Dutton Books for Young Readers.
Genre
Printz Award Winner
Target Age Group
14+
Summary
College freshman Marin settles in at a university in New York after the death of her grandfather in California. When winter break comes and Marin is left in the dorms alone, her old friend Mabel comes from California to visit, and Marin must come to terms with the life she left behind.
Justification
I chose We Are Okay because of its status as a Printz award winner. From the reviews I read online, I was interested in reading about how the author would handle heavy themes like mental health and grief for a young audience.
Evaluation
For this review I will be evaluating the novel’s use of flashbacks, the setting, and the themes of grief and loneliness. First, We Are Okay explores two stories simultaneously: Marin and Mabel’s days cooped up in the dorms in New York over winter break and Marin’s past experiences with her grandfather and Mabel in California. In the present day, the reader is not afforded much insight into Marin and Mabel’s relationship or what exactly prompted Marin to run away to New York without informing anyone. Through LaCour’s use of flashbacks, however, the reader is slowly informed of the context of the girls’ relationship, and the mystery of what happened to Marin’s grandfather also takes center stage. In this way, the novel’s present is constantly informed by the past through this extensive use of flashbacks. As the reader learns more of Marin’s past, her introspection and reticence to be vulnerable with Mabel becomes more understandable and relatable to the reader.
Apart from the flashbacks, the events of We Are Okay primarily take place in an empty dorm on a college campus in New York over winter break. The setting of the novel emphasizes the deep loneliness that Marin feels. The halls are empty, Marin’s dorm is cold from the snowy climate, and she spends much of her time utterly alone before Mabel comes to visit. This setting is sharply contrasted by the setting of the flashbacks, which detail Marin’s past in California. While Marin’s present in New York feels cold, dead, and lonely, her past in California feels warm, bright, and inviting. She is surrounded by friends and family in California, while she is painfully alone in her present day. The contrast of these settings not only emphasizes the ways that Marin’s life has changed within the past year, but it also gives insight into Marin’s inner, emotional world and effectively sets the mood for the events of the novel. Both LaCour’s use of flashbacks and setting work together to establish the novel’s core themes of loneliness and grief. Marin is not only physically alone, particularly in the first few days before Mabel’s visit, but the secrets she harbors completely isolate her from any support system. She feels as though a part of her story is so shameful, she can never share it with anyone, even her closest confidante, Mabel. This isolation, though self-imposed, has an indelible mark on Marin’s sense of self. Similarly, Marin’s despair at her grandfather’s death, particularly when combined with the sense of betrayal at his ultimate secret, makes her grieving process that much more complicated. How can she come to terms with her previous image of her grandfather after learning about his secret? How can she grieve a man she feels like she never really knew? How can she do it alone? These questions and more are at the heart of We Are Alone, and the thoughtful exploration of their answers brings out the best in LaCour’s emotional, introspective writing.