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by Laura Gao
Once dubbed the Queen of Balance as her school's top rock climber, Kirby Tan suffers an injury that sidelines her for the rest of the season.
Now she's forced to join the newspaper club for some desperately needed extra credit. Worse, she's recruited by crystal-wearing, tarot-reading Bex Santos for her astrology-based love advice column. As Kirby reluctantly agrees to orchestrate "matches made in heaven" with Bex, she begins to wonder if their own stars could be aligned. But loving who she wants isn't so easy when her family and church community are on the line. Can Kirby pull off her greatest balancing act yet?
From Laura Gao, the acclaimed creator of Messy Roots, comes an authentic slow-burn romance and coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Heartstopper, lovers of astrology and tarot, and anyone looking for answers on the right way to fall (in love).
"A soaring addition to queer graphic novel canon." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A refreshingly raw and vulnerable exploration of grief and hope." —Kirkus Reviews
"This exploration on identity, religion, and relationships highlights the courage it takes to leap, especially when it means being willing to fall." —School Library Journal
"I'm once again blown away by Laura Gao's ability to make me relate to someone completely different from myself. Get ready to experience the epic highs and lows of high school rock climbing." —Sonora Reyes, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
This information about Kirby's Lessons for Falling (in Love) was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Laura Gao is a comic artist and bread lover currently living in San Francisco. Her debut graphic novel, Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American, received several starred reviews. Laura's art career began by doodling on Pokémon cards and has since blossomed to be featured on NPR, HuffPost, and, most notably, her parents' fridge. She is a proud queer Asian American immigrant and strives to inspire others to live unapologetically loud. Laura's pronouns are she/they. Say hello and send her bakery recommendations at lauragao.com.
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