At a Crossroads:
Between a Rock and My Parents' Place
Kate T. Williamson

After graduating from college and spending a magical year abroad writing our best-selling A Year in Japan, Kate T. Williamson felt ready for anything. But, like many a postgraduate, she needed some time to figure out just what that anything was. Her parents' house in Pennsylvania seemed like the perfect place for a brief layover, but twenty-three months later, Williamson was still contemplating the past and the future, while explaining to curious neighbors that, at present, her life was "at a crossroads."

At a Crossroads is a unique graphic memoir about the common, yet little-discussed, "boomerang years." With sharp wit and expressive drawings, Williamson illustrates the joys, disappointments, comforts, and embarrassments of life back home with mom and dad. Highlights and low points include celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday at a Hall & Oates concert with her mother; noticing the train sounds from her bedroom for the first time; battling an infestation of squirrels; discovering that the ballet class she has signed up for is actually for children, and attending anyway; getting mail from her college crush, who has developed an interest in taxidermy; wearing a chain-mail belt of her own creation to her cousin's Renaissance-themed wedding. Moving from season to season, Williamson uses her delightful illustrations and vivid descriptions to discover the beauty and truth inside every hilarious episode. At a Crossroads is a book for young and old alike, or for anyone contemplating the little things worth noting in the times of our lives we often erase from our histories.


Kate T. Williamson is the author of A Year in Japan (2006, Princeton Architectural Press), Hello Kitty Through the Seasons!, Hello Kitty Hello Sparkle!, and Hello Kitty Everywhere! She is a writer and illustrator who studied film making at Harvard University. She grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania and now lives in New York City.
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Editorial Reviews

BetterLivingThroughDesign.com:
"This would be a perfect gift for anyone who has ever moved back in with their parents (or might be tempted to) and for those who have experienced the strange period of 'in-between-ness' that occurs after college but right before finding one's own roots." (April 2008)

Books Aloud, Cuious Parents Magazine:
"Ive enjoyed a slice of the graphic novel pie in my day, but I did not taste anythign like this book. At a Crossroads is about Kate, a college grad who returns home expecting to visit her parents for the summer, and ends up living with them for two years... So while this book is very simple, its the kind of simple that was Princeton educated." — Jessie Hawlish (September, 2008)

ComicsReporter.com:
"The story of a year and more at home after school while finishing a book, Williamson's tale has an easygoing pace and tone that will remind many people of a long, NPR-ready spoken essay in comics form." (4/17/2008)

Pop Candy - Best Thing I Read, USA Today:
"I guess you could call Williamson a graphic novelist, though her stories don't consist of panels; they're beautifully illustrated watercolors. At a Crossroads tells the story of how Williamson temporarily moved in with her parents in Pennsylvania after college. There, she discovers a slower way of life -- one that involves listening to squirrels and Hall & Oates. I loved it so much that now I'm reading her previous book, A Year in Japan, which traces time she spent abroad.It was exactly the book I wanted to read, and I didn't even know it existed. Don't you just love it when that happens?" (3/28/08)

WhipUp.net:
"From the first illustration, Kate Williams captures the essence of what it is to be at a crossroads in the often confusing journey of the world. The awkward daughter arriving back on the doorstep of her parents house. The pink bedroom. The desire to learn all the words to a favourite song. Williams is open and honest in this graphic novel which is an introspective look at a herself during a time when she was at a crossroads." (4/8/2008)

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