Chilling out on a Friday night, dealing with a parent’s death: looking at Bey’s photographs reminded me of the vast spectrum of experiences in a typical high-school class. What secrets, I wondered, had my former classmates harbored? Maybe, without knowing it, I spent my junior year next to a Kevin (page 108) whose father had been in jail, or a Julia (69) who hid her sister’s eating disorder from her family. There are many Austins in the book, too—kids who seem as yet untouched by adult concerns. The inequity of sadness among Bey’s subjects is stark, but his tender portraits afford them all the same dignity. It’s striking to see teens portrayed with so little sensation: there isn’t a Gossip Girl in the bunch.
