Big Kids

A troubled teenage boy is making his way through high school, running with misfits and testing how far he can push the rules. He has casual sex, takes drugs and breaks the law, and none of it holds much meaning for him.

Then his uncle, a police officer, is thrown out of the family's basement apartment and transferred to the countryside. April takes the vacated space. She is a college student, mysterious and cool, and she takes to the boy almost at once.

His old habits fade. He spends his days with April and her friends, a group of older, self-assured big kids who gather at the campus swimming pool. Slowly, the boy starts to change as well, and with him his friendships, his interests and the direction his life might take.

Michael DeForge's graphic novel is a dark coming-of-age story. It is his most straightforward narrative and also his most complex work to date.

The pacing is measured and the mood is eerie. It dwells on the contradictory feelings of adolescence, the choices people make to fit in, and how they get through periods of change. Readers who know his Ant Colony and First Year Healthy will recognise the same harsh and beautiful view of being alive.