The Computer Room

In this unforgettable debut, Emma Ensley cracks open a time capsule of adolescence at the turn of the millennium, when internet chatrooms and youth group missions collided, when fanfiction forums pulsed with drama, and when girls learned to code-switch between AOL screen names and church pews. These linked stories hum with the strange holiness of coming-of-age: babysitting jobs and Bible verses, slap bracelets and slut-shaming, cheerleading chants and Cabbage Patch births. Told with tenderness and precision, The Computer Room captures what it means to grow up longing—for closeness, for clarity, for someone to tell you what to name the baby. Ensley’s characters are forever on the cusp of first love, of self-invention, of figuring out how to live in the body and in the South.

Through 13 stories, Ensley brings to life the joys, fears, and complexities of adolescence and early adulthood—where first loves, friendships, and the search for identity collide with messy bedrooms, teenage rebellion, and the quiet hum of the family computer. Ensley’s sharp, heartfelt writing makes you laugh, reflect, and feel connected to those fleeting moments of youth when everything seemed both endlessly possible and impossibly confusing.

Emma Ensley is a fiction writer, artist, and graphic designer living in Asheville, North Carolina. She grew up in North Georgia and on the internet, and considers both places equally influential to her work. Her short fiction has appeared in Joyland, The Quarterless Review, and Peach Mag.