Roaming

“Roaming perfectly captures so much of what it feels like to be both fully grown and still becoming who you are. The utterly brilliant Tamakis show the highs and lows of friendship and love and what it means to explore. A beautiful book for any 19 year old, yes, but also for anyone who was once 19.” —Emma Straub, author of This Time Tomorrow

"I've never been a young Canadian tourist visiting New York for the first time in 2009, but Roaming made me feel like one. It's a beautiful, immersive slice-of-life, and Jillian Tamaki's artwork has never been more observant, inventive, and breathtakingly alive." —Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings and The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

“Roaming made me wanna be 17 all over again. Mobbing the streets of NYC with my angsty, goofy, dare-devil friends skateboarding at the cube on Astor place and riding the Cyclone at Coney Island, screaming at the top of our lungs, feeling like nothing could ever stop us. The Tamakis give us NYC youth magic on a platter scuffed with glitter, make out sessions and tourist stops at Times Square. I wanted to read Roaming over and over again. It’s a love letter to the greatest city in the world and all the beautiful tender queer kids running wild and free.” —Gabby Rivera, Juliet Takes A Breath

“Tender, honest, and gorgeously illustrated, Roaming charters a course through the choppy waters of a queer fling with aplomb. Following a trio of friends from Canada on a short trip to New York City, Roaming doesn’t shy away from the splendid messiness of a sudden, passionate connection between two strangers. Jillian and Mariko Tamaki embrace the humanity of their characters and allow them to exist outside of the sanitized expectations so often imposed on media with LGBTQ representation. Like any great destination, it left an impression on me, and I’m looking forward to coming back.” —John Paul Brammer, ¡Hola Papi!

"Roaming perfectly captures that weird second adolescence between high school and adulthood: the thrill and torture of new experiences, the growing pains of old friendships, the feelings that are ultimately both silly and life-altering. It might evoke embarrassing memories of cringey arguments or dramatic flings, but then it takes those formative moments seriously. This book loves its characters, and you will, too."—Tavi Gevinson

“Roaming is a nuanced, intricately observed, and bittersweet love letter to the yearnings and frustrations and fears and joys of friendship during a particular moment of change and growth that we will all recognize from our own lives. I felt so much for these vivid and complex characters and their relationships, brought lovingly to life by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s exceptional words and artwork. The Tamakis are masters of the medium of the graphic novel — I cannot imagine this breathtaking work in any other form.” —Jonny Sun, New York Times best-selling author and illustrator of Goodbye, Again and Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

“Roaming took me right back to those sweet, messy years when everything felt terrifying and heartbreaking and gorgeous, all at once. With lush artwork and heartful storytelling, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki have done an uncannily good job capturing what it was like to be a queer 19 year old in 2009, tromping around in search of the 'real' world, in search of one’s real life. I want to hand this book out to everyone I knew and loved in those years; I know they would fall in love with these characters as much as I did.” —Franny Choi, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On