An atmospheric and profound coming-of-age graphic novel about a Malaysian American teen carving out her own identity in the uneasy space between friends and family.
Fifteen-year-old Azar feels stuck. Her mom’s job forced them to move to Vermont, where Azar doesn't know anyone. Her only friends are the next-door neighbors: an aging sci-fi writer and his nonbinary teen, Tristan, fellow misfits in the small-town community. For a while, Azar can escape her troubles by disappearing into the pages of her kindly neighbor’s epic novel, The Exiles of Overworld. But when her queerness throws her life out of balance, Azar realizes some secrets can’t be escaped forever. Somewhere in the abandoned malls, lakes, and comic conventions that fill her new life, Azar fights to find herself. What else will she discover?
Kazimir Lee has lived for almost equal amounts of time in Malaysia, the UK, and the US. They now reside in Brooklyn. They enjoy queer subtext, parenthood, ghost stories, and karaoke.
“Masterful…Azar’s earnest struggle to bridge emotional distances is something every reader will relate to.” — Rebecca Mickey Mock, artist of Compass South and Salt Magic
“Low Orbit is a tender and evocative graphic novel about the pain and joy of all our relationships. You will be drawn into Azar’s world with every page. An exquisite debut.” — Tillie Walden, author of On a Sunbeam
“Lee’s deft cartooning tells an immersive story of adolescent queer experience with specificity and clarity. I loved it.” — Priya Huq, author of Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab
“This lovely, generous book offers a fresh and exuberant perspective on queerness. Intergenerational and intercultural in its scope, it offers readers a look at the radical possibilities that open to us when we learn how to be ourselves with each other.” — Dr. Shiamin Kwa, author of Regarding Frames: Thinking with Comics in the Twenty-First Century
An atmospheric and profound coming-of-age graphic novel about a Malaysian American teen carving out her own identity in the uneasy space between friends and family.
Fifteen-year-old Azar feels stuck. Her mom’s job forced them to move to Vermont, where Azar doesn't know anyone. Her only friends are the next-door neighbors: an aging sci-fi writer and his nonbinary teen, Tristan, fellow misfits in the small-town community. For a while, Azar can escape her troubles by disappearing into the pages of her kindly neighbor’s epic novel, The Exiles of Overworld. But when her queerness throws her life out of balance, Azar realizes some secrets can’t be escaped forever. Somewhere in the abandoned malls, lakes, and comic conventions that fill her new life, Azar fights to find herself. What else will she discover?
Creators
Kazimir Lee has lived for almost equal amounts of time in Malaysia, the UK, and the US. They now reside in Brooklyn. They enjoy queer subtext, parenthood, ghost stories, and karaoke.
“Masterful…Azar’s earnest struggle to bridge emotional distances is something every reader will relate to.” — Rebecca Mickey Mock, artist of Compass South and Salt Magic
“Low Orbit is a tender and evocative graphic novel about the pain and joy of all our relationships. You will be drawn into Azar’s world with every page. An exquisite debut.” — Tillie Walden, author of On a Sunbeam
“Lee’s deft cartooning tells an immersive story of adolescent queer experience with specificity and clarity. I loved it.” — Priya Huq, author of Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab
“This lovely, generous book offers a fresh and exuberant perspective on queerness. Intergenerational and intercultural in its scope, it offers readers a look at the radical possibilities that open to us when we learn how to be ourselves with each other.” — Dr. Shiamin Kwa, author of Regarding Frames: Thinking with Comics in the Twenty-First Century
