Jonathan Messinger

Debbie Drechsler's new graphic novel, "Summer of Love," is the hardbound edition of her serial "Nowhere," a sparse tale of awkward adolescence.

Drechsler no doubt felt motivated to change the title, given the new one's ironic punch when applied to the loveless sixties summer the lead character must endure. Lily, a sophomore in high school, has just moved for what seems like the umpteenth time as her wage-slave father starts another job.

Nowhere, however, is exactly where Lily and her family seem to be going. They've moved to Nowhere Suburbia. Social avenues for Lily and her sister Pearl prove to be inroads to dead ends. And by the time the story is done, Lily is no better off than she was when it started.

Of course, that's not to say nothing happens.

Drechsler's story is full of the subtly traumatic moments that make early adolescence seem like a constant state of Armageddon with redemption just two lockers down. Lily is always toeing the line between being comfortable and being permanently ostracized for the slightest misstep.

Surprisingly, with all of the sexual and romantic exploring Lily and Pearl undertake, the tension in the story never truly boils. In Lily, Drechsler has created a fascinating character that could only have come from hindsight: a self-aware adolescent who frets over her mistakes but is ready to make the next one. She is determined to explore feelings wide-eyed, though anticipates disappointment in what she finds.

Such an uneventful story only succeeds because of its honesty. Drechsler takes us through Lily's obstacles, though never substitutes the drama for the attendant melodrama almost expected with any story about teens.

The true success of the story is in Drechsler's use of colors to underscore the pessimism inherent in Lily's situation. The dreary brown and green tones never change throughout the story, creating a muddy world in which Lily can never quite brush herself clean.

"Summer of Love"

By Debbie Drechsler

Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95, 160 pages

(2002-09-11)

Also by Jonathan Messinger

FICTION REVIEW
After establishing herself in Britain's sixties experimental literary scene, Ann Quin traveled from her native U.K. to the United States where she gathered fodder for her fourth novel, "Tripticks." And if the satire in "Tripticks"--a frenetic tale of a man chased across the country by his first ex-wife and her faceless new lover--were the direct result of her travels here, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume Hunter S. Thompson was her tour guide.
(2002-08-07)

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