Just Between Us

Gr 7 Up–Lydia Chen is singularly focused on winning and being a figure skating champion. With 276 days remaining until the Olympics, Lydia’s rival Elaine Yee joins her training camp. With world rankings of first and third place respectively, their approaches to skating are fractious: Lydia demands technical precision of herself and Elaine feels looser in her artful, expressive love of skating. The pressure and loneliness of being the very best awkwardly and eventually unite them. Kon describes their debut graphic novel as yuri-inspired, which is a Japanese media genre of close relationships between female characters. As expressed between Lydia and Elaine, the relationship is emotional and, in the end, romance-focused. Kon’s manga-style art is captivating in its black and white depictions of the athleticism and the emotionality of figure skating. The countdown to the Olympics and full- and half-page spreads of the skaters in motion make for immersive reading. Splashes of golden yellow represent realizations and unforgettable moments; flashbacks show simplified cartoon-style child versions of characters. Goofy moments of silliness and intense episodes of self-doubt, stress, and freaking out will be relatable for many teens. At times, the storytelling is prose-like and deeply reflective. While the perspective changes from Elaine to Lydia, and sometimes to other minor characters, can be slightly distracting, the result is a representative and engrossing story of the skaters’ lives, relationships, and focus on the sport. Hand this to fans of Tillie Walden’s Spinning and Faith Erin Hicks’s Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy. Lydia is Chinese American and Elaine is Malaysian.