Local delivery in 24 hours in Montréal for $12. Free pickup at 3915 Saint-Denis, Montréal. Enjoy free shipping in Canada on orders over $125 with code: FREESHIPPING. (Regular parcel, Retail only).
Text & illustrations: Jessica Campbell Editor: Drawn & Quarterly ISBN 9781770464605 Published in Avril 2022 Format: Hardcover Pages: 168 pages
A queer coming-of-age story, complete with secret cigarettes, gross gym teachers, and a lot of church
It’s the early 2000s. Lauren is fifteen, soft-spoken, and ashamed of her body. She’s a devout member of an evangelical church, but when her Bible-thumping parents forbid Lauren to bring evolution textbooks home, she opts to study at her schoolmate Mariah’s house. Mariah has dial-up internet, an absentee mom, and a Wiccan altar—the perfect setting for a study session and sleepover to remember. That evening, Mariah gives Lauren a makeover and the two melt into each other, in what becomes Lauren’s first queer encounter. Afterward, a potent blend of Christian guilt and internalized homophobia causes Lauren to question the experience.
Author Jessica Campbell (XTC69) uses frankness and dark humor to articulate Lauren's burgeoning crisis of faith and sexuality. She captures teenage antics and banter with astute comedic style, simultaneously skewering bullies, a culture of slut-shaming, and the devastating impact of religious zealotry. Rave is an instant classic, a coming-of-age story about the secret spaces young women create and the wider social structures that fail them.
