Shy grey Reggie returns home after a season of adventuring which has left him with nightmares. Curious, boisterous Emily draws him out of his shell with her enthusiastic friendship. They explore beaches, caves, and forests together and meet many friendly neighbors. This kid's comic is absolutely adorable, but I questioned some of the story choices... especially the way the opening scene was set up and the way Reggie's backstory was revealed. But it is very delightful to look at, and I think young readers will simply enjoy it and not notice any of the things I quibbled with. 

 I bought this book after seeing it on several lists of queer contemporary fiction by Indian authors. The unnamed protagonist shares many similarities with the author- both are young doctors who grew up in Ghatshila and later worked as medical officers in the employ of the government of Jharkhand. However, the author published the book as fiction, not memoir. The story is divided into three sections, "Lover", "Friend", and "Father" and each tells of a pivotal relationship the protagonist had with these three different men. The lover is a fellow med school student who is very receptive to sex and furtive semi-dating, but is engaged to a woman living in another city. The friend is a head clerk of the hospital, and a "guy who knows a guy" for anything anyone in his neighborhood needs to get done, from purchasing property to registering to vote. The protagonist's father was a rising political hopeful in the Hindu India Party, a rare Santhal candidate during the years before Jharkhand was granted statehood. Through all of these various stories, the protagonist's loneliness and yearning for connection are a constant thread. The prose is clear, emotionally honest, and full of detail. Occasional lines of dialogue are not in English, and there were a lot of terms I wasn't familiar with, but that didn't take away from my reading pleasure. I want to read more from this author.