Roaming - by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki (Paperback)

About the Book

"Over the course of a much-anticipated trip to New York, an unexpected fling blossoms between casual acquaintances and throws a long-term friendship off-balance. Emotional tensions vibrate wildly against the ... illustrated backdrop of the city, capturing a spontaneous queer romance in all of its fledgling glory. Slick attention to the details of a bustling, intimidating metropolis are softened with a palette of muted pastels, as though seen through the eyes of first-time travelers"--

Book Synopsis

"Gloriously rendered... An ode to traveling as friends when you're both young and carefree and every new experience is exciting and wondrous."―Robert Ito, The New York Times Book Review

Spring Break, 2009: Five days, three friends, and one big city.

Roaming marks a triumphant return to the graphic novel and a deft foray into new adult fiction for Caldecott Medal authors Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki.

Over the course of a much-anticipated trip to New York, an unexpected fling blossoms between casual acquaintances and throws a long-term friendship off-balance. Emotional tensions vibrate wildly against the resplendently illustrated backdrop of the city, capturing a spontaneous queer romance in all of its fledgling glory. Slick attention to the details of a bustling, intimidating metropolis are softened with a palette of muted pastels, as though seen through the eyes of first-time travelers. The awe, wonder, and occasional stumble along the way come to life with stunning accuracy.

Roaming is the third collaboration from the critically acclaimed team behind Skim and Governor General's Literary Award winner This One Summer. Moody, atmospheric, and teeming with life, the magic of this comics duo leaks through the pages with lush and exquisite pen work. The Tamakis' singular, elegant vision of an urban paradise slowly revealing its imperfections to the tune of its visitors' rhythms is a masterpiece--a future classic for generations to come.

Review Quotes

"Roaming is gloriously rendered... A love letter to New York, but also an ode to traveling as friends when you're both young and carefree and every new experience is exciting and wondrous." --Robert Ito, The New York Times Book Review

"Cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki revel in the time-distorting magic of true young adulthood, when a week can feel like a year, and a day can change your life." --Michael Cavna and Jacob Brogan, The Washington Post

"A big book full of small, meaningful moments." --Michelle Hart, Electric Literature

"Roaming is about two Canadian kids on spring break to New York... It turns out to be surprisingly emotional even though it's a very simple story. I'll admit: I shed a tear." --Alicia Desantis, New York Times Staff Picks

"[Roaming] acknowledges the necessary messiness of young adulthood without judgment." --The Globe & Mail

"A shrewd and wistful coming-of-age story that may be their best work yet." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"The Tamakis' keen understanding of how friendships shift and change is at its heartachingly vivid best here. Absolutely superb." --ALA Booklist, Starred Review

"How exhilarating it is to be young, to be in love, to explore new places and aspects of yourself, and to experience each emotion, good or bad, so very intensely." --Library Journal, Starred Review

"Read and experience the thrill of a crush, the pain of being a third wheel, the joy of being inside the M&M's store." --The Walrus, Best Books of Fall 2023

"The city's sights, sounds and smells leap out of the pages... We can feel the brush of fingertips and the catching of breath with as much sensitivity as the rush of Times Square or the breeze in Central Park - and that is a treat you can't miss." --NPR

"A moving look at the peculiar, if inevitable, challenges of young adulthood... What the Tamakis are saying―or, more accurately, showing―is that we continue to contain our former selves even as we grow out of them." --David Ulin, Alta Journal

"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

"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." --Shortcomings and The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

"Roaming is a masterful telling of a story we almost never get about young Asian American people experimenting with love, selfhood, sex, affection, artistic ambition, personal ambition, all while looking for the friends who can see you through. We are the third third wheel to this trio of friends, old and new, who come to get lost in the magic of New York, who I suppose is the fourth friend--it is after all a love letter to the city too." --Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

"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. 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." --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." --Tavi Gevinson

"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. The Tamakis are masters of the medium of the graphic novel." --Jonny Sun, 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. 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

"Messy, tender and teeming with life, Roaming is exactly the kind of story young people today should be reading. I couldn't put it down." --Julie Depenbrock, NPR

"Jillian Tamaki's bluish color palette in her illustrations serves to accentuate both the melancholy and buzzy warmth of the story, while Mariko Tamaki's dialogue expertly captures the essences of the characters." --Sarah Neilson, Shondaland

"Cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki revel in the time-distorting magic of true young adulthood, when a week can feel like a year, and a day can change your life." --The Washington Post, Best Graphic Novels of 2023

"The beauty of Roaming is that it captures its characters at a potent moment of change, one that holds possibilities and that also contains loss." --H Felix Chau Bradley, Xtra Magazine

"Gorgeous, wistful... This is a book for anyone who's tried to figure out who they are and what brings them joy while, unfortunately, acting like a total shithead in the process. And isn't that all of us?" --Them, 23 Favorite LGBTQ+ Books of 2023

"For LGBTQ+ readers, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki's newest graphic novel is a treat on par with a classic New York City slice." --Samantha Riedel, them.

"A fizzing, brilliantly observed tale of the kind of youthful city break that might only last days but can echo for a lifetime." --The Guardian, James Smart's Best Graphic Novels of 2023

"Anyone who's been nineteen can identify with Roaming's overarching themes: the messiness of learning that the freedom of adulthood still has boundaries and that exploration has its limits." --Gabrielle Drolet, The Walrus

"[Roaming] explores friendship, sex, and identity in an energetic romp through New York City rendered with sharp dialogue and in mesmerizing tableaus of soft peach and purple." --Alexandra Trnka, Quill & Quire

"Lushly drawn, Roaming is an immersive, compelling read showing both Tamakis at the top of their game." --Autostraddle

"An instant classic." --Comic Book Resources

About the Author

Jillian Tamaki (Author)
Jillian Tamaki is a cartoonist, illustrator, and educator raised in Calgary, Alberta. She is the author of the Eisner Award-winning graphic novels SuperMutant Magic Academy and Boundless, and the author-illustrator of two picture books, including most recently Our Little Kitchen. With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, she is the co-creator of the young adult graphic novels SKIM and This One Summer, which won a Governor General's Award and Caldecott Honor. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Mariko Tamaki (Author)
Mariko Tamaki is a Canadian writer living in California. She is the co-creator of the graphic novels Skim and This One Summer with Jillian Tamaki, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me with Rosemary Valero-O'Connell. She writes superhero comics for DC Comics, Darkhorse and Marvel. Mariko was the recipient of the Eisner for Best Writer in 2020. Collectively, her works have received Printz Honors, Eisner, Ignatz, Ringo and Prism awards. She is the curator of the Abrams LGBTQ imprint, Surely Books.