LO & BEHOLD

A young girl avoids a troubling family matter by escaping into virtual reality.

Addie Brecker had the perfect life: a devoted mom who shared her love of tortoises and a caring dad who worked as a futurist. But after her mom had a terrible cycling accident, she changed. Addie takes her time with sharing exactly what happened as her mother fell into painkiller addiction, but Mass’ story gathers steam when Addie and her dad take a road trip to Spring Haven University, where they will be staying for six weeks while he works on a virtual reality project. At Spring Haven, Addie meets quirky and fun-loving neighbor boy Mateo Vargas, who has his own secrets. Not yet ready to open up about her mom, Addie spends much of her time helmeted in VR, beta-testing her dad’s students’ work. But she comes to realize that she can let people in and enjoy the real and virtual worlds equally. This artfully rendered graphic charmer is carefully nuanced and adroitly paced, exploring such issues as addiction, grief, and technology’s role in our lives. As the stories of Addie’s mom’s struggles and a tragic event in Mateo’s family unfold, readers are granted admittance into their lives alongside the characters. The Breckers read White; the Vargas family is cued Latine, and there is racial diversity in the supporting cast.

An affecting examination hitting many contemporary notes.