Eliza and Her Monsters

Socially inept high-school senior Eliza Mirk is a nobody at school. But online she is LadyConstellation, anonymous creator of the super-popular fantasy webcomic Monstrous Sea. Adorable, even-more-awkward new kid Wallace turns out to be a fan--and a well-known fan-forum moderator and fanfiction writer at that. The two begin a tentative friendship through handwritten notes at school and chats and text messages at home (Wallace doesn't talk much), and soon they're more than friends. Eliza agonizes over how to confess that she's not just a fellow Monstrous Sea fan but the comic's creator; this secret and a few of Wallace's own threaten their sweet and hard-won romance. Everything comes to a head just before graduation, when LadyConstellation's true identity is leaked. To what extent has Eliza been complicit in her own isolation, and how can she reconcile her now very public persona with her introvert's need for privacy? Interspersed with Eliza's relatable and often funny first-person narrative are chat logs, text messages, Eliza's lovely art, and snippets of Wallace's prose, reflecting the teens' multi-platform means of communication. Like Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl (rev. 11/13), this is a love letter to online fandom and to the profound sense of belonging found in others who share your particular passion, whether as creators or fans, in person or on the web. katie bircher