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.

About Jessica Campbell

Author Jessica Campbell 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.

About the publisher

Over the past thirty years, Drawn & Quarterly has grown from a single-issue magazine to an internationally renowned publisher of the world’s best cartoonists. D&Q has published many North American luminaries of the medium. The company’s dedication to high production values, editorial integrity, and artistic autonomy has led to it being described by Time as “the most elegant comics publisher in North America.” 

Photos and copy by Drawn & Quarterly.