-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Ludwig Volbeda
Jip has an assignment from school for spring break: draw a self-portrait. That should be easy for someone who can draw so well.
Yet Jip's thoughts keep wandering. To the new boy in class, to beetles and fireflies, to twilight dreaming, to the party next Friday, and especially to the boy who changed Jip's world once and for all.
Ludwig Volbeda writes as he draws: sensitively, intimately, and with striking observations and metaphors that gradually give the reader insight into Jip's innermost thoughts. What results is a magnificent self-portrait in words (and line art) and one of the more exquisite queer coming-of-age stories in years.
"Glimpses of subplots, such as Jip's grandmother's cognitive decline and Jip's parents' turbulent marriage, are naturally woven in; these open-ended vignettes further enhance the realism and beauty of Jip's world and journey. Volbeda's exquisitely delicate sketches, executed with fineliners and mechanical pencils, are sprinkled throughout, adding texture. Breathtakingly raw and fresh, just like adolescence itself." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
This information about Self Portrait 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.
Ludwig Volbeda is a Dutch author and illustrator who has won the highest awards for both writing and illustration of children's books in his country. He likes to fill his walls and sketchbooks with small notes, drawings, cartoons, and short stories; he has a fascination with everything small, such as buttons and beetles. His young adult debut, Self Portrait, was voted Rainbow Book of the Year by readers in the Netherlands.
If you liked Self Portrait, try these:
by Fredrik Backman
Published 2026
#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later.
by Victoria Redel
Published 2025
A "captivating" lesbian romance set in the "wonderfully atmospheric" art world of 1600s Amsterdam (Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit).
by Hari Kunzru
Published 2025
From one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating it
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
