AS I DREAM OF YOU

In this graphic novel by Disney screenwriter Lee and award-winning illustrator Pham, two teens in love face the ultimate obstacle.

Soon after their meet-cute collision, high school juniors Sam and Franny, who live in the mill town of Chestnut Woods, Pennsylvania, become inseparable. With one another, they can confide their worries and troubles as well as their dreams and hopes. Theirs is an all-consuming love—some may even call it too intense. When an unimaginable tragedy strikes, Sam and Franny can’t help but try to hold on to their love forever. But can they defy death? Will they succeed where Orpheus and Eurydice failed? Through lucid dreaming, white-presenting Sam and Franny, who appears Asian, can be together—but the astral world is only meant to be a stopgap between life and death. The story coalesces into a sensitive and visceral exploration of loss and selfless love even as their dreams become horrific nightmares when their reluctance to let go comes to a head. Recurring elements like Greek mythology and Sam’s search for chestnut trees that survived the blight echo the protagonists’ arcs. The expressive artwork powerfully conveys the emotional intensity of these teenagers in love and crisis. Those who reread the story armed with foreknowledge of a major twist will enjoy an especially rich experience of Lee’s narrative and appreciate Pham’s clever choices in the illustrations.

A striking and viscerally affecting tale of love, loss, and letting go.