Valley Girl: A Graphic Novel
One Sentence
A sixteen year old girl's life falls apart so decides to go live in the wilderness around Yosemite Valley.
One Paragraph
Molly is a high school sophomore in Ottawa Canada, and she’s crumbling under the weight of her parents' divorce, her waning friendships, and her shitty boyfriend. She fantasizes about giving up and living in the woods, and when a fight with her mom escalates into her being kicked out, she calls her dad and he books her a flight out to live with him in California. Molly arrives at the airport to find a text saying her dad's new wife has reconsidered and the trip is cancelled, but Molly gets on the plane anyway. In San Francisco she spends her life savings on survival gear and a bus ticket to Yosemite and leaves civilization behind. Molly befriends a raven, builds a shelter in the woods, and learns to be independent. However, it turns out living in the woods is harder than she thought. Facing down bears, rapids, loneliness, and starvation, Molly struggles to stay alive in the wilderness by herself. Two park rangers see her struggling and try to help even though Molly keeps pushing them away. Molly manages to survive well enough for a few months, and then pushes her luck: she tries to hike further away from the safety of the valley. After falling into a river and almost drowning, Molly develops hypothermia and the rangers arrive just in time to save her. They nurse Molly back to health, and enlist her to work as a junior ranger. The rangers get Molly’s best friend from back home to come to the valley, and when she arrives she asks Molly to come home with her and live with her family. Molly is finally able to trust again, after realizing that she doesn't need her family but does need a family, and she moves back home with her friend with the promise to come back to Yosemite during the summers.
