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May 22, 2025 Web Exclusive By John Paul Bullock

Sara Phoebe Miller’s debut graphic novel is an outstanding young adult story that confidently captures feelings of adolescent isolation and angst without ever tumbling into melodrama. It follows a suburban seventeen-year-old named Essie Rosen as she navigates heartbreak and thwarted ambitions on her search for identity. Along the way You Belong Here deftly handles some weighty subject matter like financial insecurity and substance abuse with subtlety and sophistication.

Miller is a veteran comic book editor who worked for Vertigo and ran DC’s Talent Development Writers and Artists Workshops. Her storytelling experience really shows, especially as it relates to her collaboration with illustrator Morgan Beem (Wonder Woman Black and Gold, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches). They make a great team. Perhaps the most striking creative decision in You Belong Here is the choice to color these panels in a wash of monochromatic blues. The watercolor-like shading and expressive body-styling of the characters gives the reader a sense that Essie’s life is in a constant state of flux, always moving and changing.

You Belong Here is a perfect book for any young person in your life in their early teenage years looking for a coming-of-age narrative with identifiable situations, realistic relationships, and a few romantic ups and downs. It’s also an excellent first outing from Miller. Hopefully, there’s plenty more to come from her. (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250822307/youbelonghere/)

Author rating: 7.5/10