On Your Way by Emily Chou is an interesting read. We have a typical coming of age story (girl wants to be herself, but her mom has other plans) but there is more. She is able to see a ghost. Or is he just her imaginary friend? (Which was cute when she was six, now she’s in her mid-teens?) The development of our character happens step by step of coming out of their shell, finding friends, and being passionate about what gives them passion.
But there is more. We follow our first set of characters in the late 1990s, but our ghost has a connection to the past; 1971-72 in fact. We see how this character was not the “golden child” his father wanted him to be, but had a shine all his own. One that burned hard and fast. One that, in some ways, mirrors the present; and lets us have a sneak peek at how the two worlds connect.
And the artwork also connects things by not connecting them. Both points of view (the sister of our teen boy in the 1970s and then the girl in the 1990s) are done in different colors to show the time and place. When the two are overlapping in a few places panels are alternated to show who is who as there are similarities to things. The details are very minimal, but can be crowded at times. Once such time is when a character finds themselves in a pawn shop-like store, that has a magic all its own.
The only issue I had is how magic does come into play seemingly out of the blue, but at the same time, why not? It works. It gives a fresh touch, but also keeps things somehow familiar (especially if you’ve read books that have the cultural references of Asian peoples who have immigrated/grew up in a Canadian province). The part I enjoyed is how the LGBTQ elements were seamlessly introduced. While there is tension between father and son over it, other characters just accept it as “nice and normal”. It is no big deal and just adds to and does not take away from the main story.
