‘We Are Okay’ is a novel written by Nina LaCour, who is a fantastic author and who is queer. Nina LaCour lives with her wife and their daughter, and most of her books include a queer character, whether they’re the protagonist or a minor character, and this book is no different. The novel is in first person point of view, and it switches from present to past tense, and the protagonist is Marin, a college freshman in New York who is staying in the dorms over winter break, all by herself; well with the groundskeeper. While her friends are getting ready to leave and spend time with their family, she stays in the dorms because she doesn’t have a family. One of her friends from California, Mabel, is going to come over and Marin gets ready for her arrival. She tries to enhance the side of dormormity that belongs to her, but she fails to because she feels like trying will make her look hopeless. That night, Mabel reaches the dorms, and they talk about their college life.
The narration switches to the past tense, retelling events that occurred in May. Marin recalls living with her grandfather, Gramps, who she has been living with for most of her life. In her last year of high school, Marin and her friends acted like they weren’t going to heir split up, which is true with friendship. In high school, Marin and Mabel spent most of their time together, and they would go to the beach, and many of the surfers would give Marin seashells to honor the memory of her deceased mother who used to be a surfer. Gramps never talked to Marin about her mother, and because of that she didn’t know much about her mom, and her dad wasn’t in the picture, so he would spend his time writing to his pen pal who he called “Birdie.” The narration is in the present tense, and Mabel invites Marin to spend Christmas in California with Mabel’s family, but Marin refuses to leave New York. Mabel brings up Gramps, and the readers learn that he has passed, but Marin doesn’t want to talk about him. That night, they cook dinner together, and Mabel announces that she has a boyfriend named Jacob, which causes them to eat in silence. The narration switches, once again, to the past.
In May, Gramps shows Marin a green dress he said Birdie sent to him and later that week, Marin has to bring a baby picture of herself so that it can be included in her in the yearbook with her senior picture. She asks Gramps if they have one, but he claims that they don’t have one, which is terrible news. In the present, once again, Mabel and Marin go into town, and they visit a potter’s studio and store. Marin takes a few objects to the checkout, and she asks the potter if she is looking for any help in the store and the potter says no. After Marin buys the items, they go to a nearby café, and when Mabel takes a call, Marin goes back to the potter’s studio to buy a present for Mabel. Inside, the potter offers Marin a job, having changed her mind. The narration goes to the past tense, taking place in June. Mabel and Marin prepare for a party by buying dresses, but when they are about to leave Mabel’s parents’ stop the girls, directing Mabel to change her dress because of it’s inappropriateness. Marin isn’t stopped by Mabel’s parents, but she still does because she wanted Mabel’s parents to tell her something about her outfit as well. At the party, one girl is shocked to hear that Marin had not been in the back of her house and this makes Marin uncomfortable. The present, Mabel and Marin are back in the dorm, when there is a power outage.
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The groundskeeper, whose name is Tommy, offers his place for them to sleep and they accept his offer. It is now June, again, Marin and Mabel spent the night together on a San Francisco beach, which begins their romantic relationship. Later that day, Gramps tells Marin that his relationship with his pen pal wasn’t a romantic one and did not criticize Marin for her relationship with Mabel, though it is uncertain if he realized what was really happening between them. Back in the present, and in Tommy’s cottage, Marin and Mabel are holding hands on the pull-out sofa bed. Mabel asks Marin where she went after leaving California and before coming to college. Marin tells her that she stayed in a motel and then tells her the truth about Birdie; that she wasn’t real. They embrace and go to bed. The power is back the next day, and they return the dorm. Mabel suggests that Marin should return to California with her.
The narrative moves into the past tense, this time in two months, July and August. Marin finds some hidden bloodstained handkerchiefs that belonged to Gramps, and she cleans them for him. Gramps then sat down Marin and gave her some records, like her birth certificate and an ATM card. Marin spends the rest of that summer with Mabel, enjoying their romance. The time then comes for Mabel to leave for college, and they say goodbye. Gramps becomes even more distant to Marin. In the dormitory, Mabel asks Marin to tell her more about what happened with Birdie. Marin unveils the truth that there was a hidden walk-in closet in Gramps’s room which sat piles of letters and belongings of her mother. Back in August, Marin, one day finds that Gramps isn’t in the house, and she calls everyone that she can, trying to find advice, but then she picks up a photograph of her mother that was on the wall. On the photo’s back reads: “Birdie on Ocean Beach, 1996” (168). Marin learns that Birdie was her mother and that Gramps had been writing letters to himself and signing them with her nickname. The police arrived at Marin’s house and took her to the station where she is told that people on the beach had seen “an old man going into the water at Ocean Beach” earlier that day (173).
From the station, Marin leaves for the airport where she booked an immediate flight to New York. In New York, she found a motel where she holed up until the day her dormitory opened. Mabel then comforts Marin after hearing this entire story and again urges Marin to come back to California. The next day, Mabel departs, and Marin regrets her choice to remain in New York. Time passes but then Mabel and her parents arrive unexpectedly at Marin’s dorm. They surprise Marin by coming to New York to bring Christmas to her and Marin is finally happy. Before the novel ends, Ana, who is Mabel’s mom, suggests that she can be a mother to Marin, and Marin accepts the offer, finally being able to have a family. She recollects a remembrance of her birth mother, and then the novel ends. The book was genuinely captivating, and like real life, it had it’s bright
