Pumpkin Heads by Rainbow Rowell. Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Pumpkin Heads is a massively sweet graphic novel about the brink of change in a young person’s life. The last night Deja and Josiah get to work together in the pumpkin patch senior year of high school. They are pretty bummed because they know that next year they will be off at college, probably different colleges, and not be able to come back to the fall traditions and feelings. Deja has a plan for the last night: Josiah must talk to the girl he has been pining over for the last three years, The Fudge Girl (she works in the Fudge Shoppe at the patch).

The majority of this novel is a chase all over to find Mercy, the girl of Josiah’s dreams, but what we really see is a conversation between two close friends. Deja and Josiah speak about moving on, the nature of crushes, and the funny politics of working at a seasonal attraction for the littles demographic. Filled with Hick’s signature art style, this graphic novel is a very good and mature look at those awkward feelings of teenage change. Routine is easy! High school, working in the Succotash Hut every fall and having a cool friend like Deja. But each character is in for a night of awakenings and discovery.

Loved this one. Pick it up for a teen in your life or for yourself.