Ever since I read French Milk before taking my first trip to Paris, I have been utterly charmed by Lucy Knisley‘s delightful (and often delicious) graphic memoirs. Her latest effort, which chronicles her travels through Europe while on a  book tour, does not disappoint, as it is filled with the quiet humor and delectable food descriptions I have come to expect from this intrepid young artist. In 2011, twenty-something Lucy was enjoying the first flushes of her success as a working cartoonist when she was invited to present at a comic festival in Norway. She decided to tie it into a visit with friends in Sweden and Germany, and then join her mother and her friends for a short vacation in France. Once she is overseas, Lucy is blindsided by an unexpected love affair in Stockholm while trying to decide where the next chapter of her life will lead. She finds herself discombobulated and questioning everything she thought she wanted as she teaches European school kids about comics, drives across France with her mother and samples every local delicacy that comes across her plate.While at a wine tasting, it is a bearded old sommelier who gives a name to the experiences Lucy is having: “L’Age License, as in: License to experience, mess up, license to fail, license to do…whatever, before you’re settled.” Lucy decides then and there she will do less worrying about the future and more enjoying of the present. Peppered with appetizing cuisine pictures and unexpectedly beautiful full color portraits of her friends and family, An Age of License is a lovely story about food and firsts. It is perfect for anyone at the start of their travels who wonders where their road will lead–or for those in the middle of their journey who would enjoy a wistful moment looking back.
This book, while it would appeal to YAs, really fits in well the with the “New Adult” category of books that is taking off – not quite YA, but not quite adult yet. I think this graphic novel really epitomizes what New Adults experience on their journey to “adulthood” – uncertainty, adventure, new loves, nostalgia for childhood, and trepidation about adulthood. I’m going to go ahead and say it: Lucy Knisley is the poster child for graphic New Adult memoirs!