Sunhead

By Carrie Forbes, MLS

The graphic novel, Sunhead, is written and illustrated by Alex Assan and is set in Tel Aviv around 2008. Rotem (she/her, the protagonist,) is a teenager currently attending high school. The primary theme in the book is Rotem’s journey of self-discovery. Assan’s illustrations are magical in how he was able to capture the vast range of Rotem’s emotions and feelings as she navigates the difficult passage into adulthood, her own sexuality, gender, physical identity, and romantic feelings. Other important themes included are living with unidentified medical issues and having to endure medical appointments that may not have answers, accepting that friendships evolve and change over time, learning more about your friends through their family systems and what they value, and learning more about the life of teenagers in Israel in the early 2000’s.

Recently Rotem has discovered a new romance novel in a series called Sunrise. The book is about a complex & “forbidden” love story between a high school girl and a vampire. Rotem falls in love with the story and the relationship between the protagonists in the book. Fans of the series call themselves Sunheads. As a fellow Sunhead, Rotem becomes consumed with the intimate beauty of the love story and rereads it constantly. She often feels sad and frustrated when her friends and family gently tease her about how obsessed she seems with the book and its characters.

One day at school, while sitting out for gym due to her period, Rotem meets a shy new friend named Ayala, who also loves to read and is interested in reading Rotem’s new favorite book. Rotem can’t believe someone else might like this book as much as she does. After Ayala finishes the book, she and Rotem become good friends as they learn more about each other, their friends, their different family lives, and their now favorite book.

Along the way, Rotem discovers that Ayala has personal medical issues that sometimes make physical movement excruciatingly painful for her. As Rotem follows a journey of self-discovery, Ayala works through many challenging emotions surrounding her medical issues along with learning more about her sexual identity.

This book reminded me of my own personal feelings of queer self-discovery and how important the validation of being fully “seen” truly is. For those who are fans of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper web comic , graphic novel series, or Netflix series, this book will feel like a good friend who would fit right into the Paris Gang.

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Carrie Forbes, MLS, AHIP, NEDA Proficient End of Life Doula is the Undergraduate Nursing Liaison Librarian at East Carolina University. She enjoys iced coffee, cats, attending musicals and plays, reading graphic novels, listening to audio books and Broadway musical soundtracks. She dislikes hurricanes, housecleaning, and cantaloupe.