When You Look Up by Chloe Garcia Roberts, Decur
ISBN: 1592702937
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Graphic Novel
Goodreads

I just read this and I can’t even wait to read it to my kids. What a strange and wonderful book. This graphic novel uses drawings and cut paper illustrations to tell the story of Lorenzo, a young boy attached to his phone who is (begrudgingly) adapting to a new house after moving with his mother. He finds a notebook in an old writing desk and becomes more and more intrigued with the stories in it and their author. The stories are vague but disquieting and Lorenzo sets out to discover more about what had happened to the notebook’s owner. The illustrations are striking and surreal and even border on frightening at times and the book continually surprises the reader. Aside from the notebook story line, When You Look Up gently suggests that staring at a screen all day can cause missed connections and experiences but does it in such a unique way maybe it will be taken to heart. I would recommend this for any age as there is so much happening descriptively and visually it will have something to offer every reader.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath