It’s Spring Break 2009 and three friends have five days in New York City. Over the course of their time there a fling blossoms between two of them, which causes the long-term friendship to be thrown off-balance.

Don’t know why I’ve found myself in books running around New York City with young adults, but I’m okay with it. It was actually kind of nice reading the graphic novel since it had a few places that were mentioned in my first book so I got to see them that way.

Everybody knows a Fiona - who is literally the worst and sucks the fun out of everything. Which is what drove me nuts about her and Dani’s fling. But, I will give the authors the credit in truly capturing the annoyance of Fiona as a whole.

On top of hating Fiona, I did find the ending just as unsatisfying. I was expecting maybe Fiona acknowledging how shitty she was - or at least giving a thank you for Dani and Zoe helping her out, or more of the group separating at the airport and going their separate ways. I get the symbolism of the ending - but I just wish there had been more.

Overall, it’s a good story about a group of friends on a trip one of them always dreamed of and it is not going exactly as planned. Wonderful depiction of that difference you have with your high school friends after going away to different colleges/universities. ( )

Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki’s Roaming tells the story of Zoe and Dani, Canadian first-year college students who were friends in high school and arrange to meet up in New York City to fulfil a childhood dream of visiting the city. Joining them is Dani’s classmate Fiona, an art student who affects a too-cool-for-you attitude and seems more confident than them both. Zoe, recently discovering more about her identity, begins to crush on Fiona, who enjoys the attention and begins monopolizing Zoe’s time to the point that Dani often finds herself on her own. Their trip reveals how Zoe and Dani have begun to grow apart, though they work to maintain their friendship.

Set in 2009, the story also represents a time capsule of being a tourist at that time including printed-out MapQuest directions, limited Wi-Fi connections, concerns about roaming charges and cell phone use, as well as the need to make detailing rendezvous plans as one cannot necessarily text to find their companion’s location. Jillian and Mariko Tamaki perfectly capture the uncertainties and insecurities of being 19. In addition to the narrative strengths, the art is gorgeous, using expressionist styles to evoke the montages of a road trip film. ( )

Beautifully drawn, and it just perfectly captures early college nostalgia/adventure -- friends going to a city to explore, finding new connections and flirtations, having some conflict and adventures. It's sassy, fun and all about cheap food in NYC. Very cool. ( )

Some Canadian college students spend spring break touring Manhattan. It's a thick book but a thin story, as a third wheel on the trip helps makes things a little messy between two lifelong friends. The messiness is pleasant enough to take in in its low-stakes way, but won't leave a lasting impression I fear.

The best part of the book is figuring out the many different ways the well-chosen title applies to the story, literally and figuratively.

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one of more of these lists:
• Washington Post
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made both lists.) ( )

It's 2009, and best friends Dani and Zoe are meeting up in New York City on a break from college. Dani's new college friend Fiona has come along, altering the dynamic between the friends. "Roaming" refers to Dani, Zoe, and Fiona's ramblings around New York City, as well as to the cell phone charges Zoe worries about (p. 283) when she's trying to get in touch with Dani. This realistic trip has its ups and downs as the three enjoy the blue whale at the Natural History museum, pizza from everywhere, and the overwhelm that is Times Square. Their three distinct personalities mesh and clash in a variety of ways over the five days they're in the city, staying in a hostel together. The color palette is restrained, in peachy-beige and muted lavender-gray. I was a little baffled by the ending, which sees the trio on a subway train to Coney Island before their flights.

See also: I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman ( )