LSSL 5385: Book 22

We Are Okay

By Nina LaCour

** Printz Award 2018 **

LaCour, N. (2019). We Are Okay. Penguin USA.

            Marin has just finished her first semester at a college in a New York and is spending the month long winter break alone.  Her roommate, Hannah, is hesitant to leave her alone but eventually heads home for Christmas.  Marin’s best friend, Mabel, who she hasn’t talked to in four months, is coming to stay for a few days, and then she will be alone for the rest of the break.  She knows that even though they haven’t talked in months that Mabel will be able to see right through her. 

            Two weeks before Marin was supposed to leave for college her Gramps disappeared and was swept away into the ocean.  She was raised by her Gramps because when she was three her mother passed away in a surfing accident.  Her and Gramps coexisted peacefully, but never went into each other’s rooms.  Gramps had the two back rooms all to himself, and Marin had the front room.  They had their daily routines, Gramps sang often, cooked sweet treats for her and Mabel, and it wasn’t until after he died that Marin realized she had been lonely living in that house.  When it came time to turn in a baby photo for the yearbook Gramps told her he didn’t have any of her.

            The night that he died is when Marin finally ventures into his back rooms and is shocked at what she discovers.  One of the rooms was full of her mother’s things and photographs aligned the wall.  He had lied to her all this time.  Gramps also wrote letters daily to Birdie, who Marin had assumed was a companion of his.  In actuality, Gramps was writing back and forth to himself pretending to be his dead daughter Birdie.  When Marin is talking to the police she realizes that he probably suffered from mental illness, on top of his cancer.  Marin is unable to deal with everything she found out that night, and simply leaves for New York early.  She only takes her phone, wallet, and a picture of her mother.

            Mabel’s parents had been waiting to take her home from the police station and she avoided them.  Mabel had already left for school and when she tried to reach out to Marin she was ignored for months.  Towards the end of their senior year, Marin and Mabel had started to begin a relationship but left it undetermined when she went off to school.  When Mabel arrives in New York at the beginning of Marin’s break she is determined to get some answers, and to try and help Marin deal with Gramps’ death.  Right away Mabel tells Marin that her parents and her would like Marin to view their house as her own, and start coming back there during school breaks.  They’ve even set up a room just for Marin in their house, and she’s shocked to learn that it’s not simply the guest room but their son Carlo’s old room.  Mabel’s parents truly want her to be part of their family.

            Over the course of the three days, Marin shares the truth she learned about Gramps and Mabel tells her about Jacob her new boyfriend.  Marin knows she eventually will go back and stay with Mabel’s parents, but she’s not ready quite yet.  Mabel leaves to back it back to spend Christmas with her family.  When she leaves Marin goes back to the list she had made of things to do, but later in the day is shocked to hear a cab pull up outside of her dorm room.  During her stay Mabel had realized that Marin might not be ready to go home just yet, and had concocted a plan for her parents to come to Marin instead.  Marin is shocked that they would do this and it’s exactly what she needed.  Later on Marin is alone with Ana, and she shares that since the time she met Marin she has wanted to be her mother.  Ana tells her that Marin was betrayed, but her Gramps did love her in his own way.  Mabel and her parents will be Marin’s family from now on and she will be okay.

            We Are Okay had me intrigued all throughout the book and it was hard for me to realize that Gramps had been dealing with demons of his own while he raised Marin.  From the outside looking in it appeared that he cared about her, and the only odd thing was is that they had their areas that the other didn’t go in to.  I just assumed maybe it was the generation gap and they each needed to feel as if they need privacy.  What I took away from the book though is that things aren’t always as they seem and we never know what a person might be struggling with.  Nina LaCour wrote a phenomenal book about dealing with truths revealed, grief, and coming out alright on the other side.

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