Tag: graphic novel

The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle

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High school can be an incredibly emotional time, but add in missing your best friends and things get harder. This is what Winifred experiences in The Greatest Thing, a young adult graphic novel written by Sarah Winifred Searle.

Starting sophomore year of high school should be easy and fun, but Winifred only feels dread. Her two best friends have transferred to a private high school, leaving her alone. She isn’t sure how she will survive high school, but she soon meets April and Oscar. They quickly become friends, making zines, having sleepovers, shopping at thrift stores, and helping each other survive the school madness. Their friendships help Winifred cope with what’s she’s feeling, but her underlying problems are still there. At times of quiet or unease, she slips back into old habits. Winifred has been keeping a secret from her friends, her family, and even herself. If she doesn’t find a way to deal with it, it could destroy all of her relationships.

This young adult graphic novel tugged on my heart strings from the very first page. The author has clearly put a lot of thought and emotion into this story in order to deliver such an honest story of self-growth, self-acceptance, and love. Friendship is an overarching theme throughout, but what I appreciated was that not everything worked out perfectly at the end. It was clear that Winifred and her friends have a lot of things to work through, but also that many tools are available to help if they want them. Overall, this is a message of hope for anyone struggling.

(Content warnings for eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and self-harm)

Slip written by Marika McCoola, illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya

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Slip written by Marika McCoola and illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya is an incredibly emotional coming-of-age young adult graphic novel that isn’t afraid to talk about tough topics. What hooked me about this graphic novel is that it centers on ceramic artist! Most of the graphic novels about art that I read center on painting or dance, so seeing one based on a talented young ceramic artist, I knew I needed to give this a read (Plus I know almost nothing about working with ceramics, so I wanted to learn!).

Trigger warning for suicide attempt.

Jade is a ceramic artist who has earned a spot at a summer art intensive at the Art Farm. She is hopeful that this intensive will help her create a portfolio which will help her get accepted into art school and also help her get a scholarship. Her mom thinks that this is a lot of pressure since it’s the student residency intensive, but has faith that Jade can succeed. Right before Jade is set to leave though, her best friend Phoebe attempts suicide. After learning this, Jade struggles with focusing on herself and constantly worries about Phoebe.

At the Art Farm, Jade meets many new people and learns many new techniques that have the ability to help her expand her art. Jade also feels the spark of a summer romance with a quirky artist named Mary. Through the summer, Jade struggles to find her motivation to work, but eventually finds her rhythm. She starts making ceramic monsters as a way to help vent her anger, frustration, and fear. The scary part is that her creations start coming alive when she puts them in the kiln. Jade must figure out what is causing them to come alive and find a way to stop them. Slip is an engaging read that doesn’t end prettily. There are clearly still plenty of issues for Jade to work through, but readers are left with the sense that she is on a path to succeed.

You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller

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You Belong Here written by Sara Phoebe Miller and illustrated by Morgan Beem is a coming of age story about Esther Rosen and her senior year of high school. Full of drama, angst, and romance galore, You Belong Here is a true-to-life glimpse of one teenager’s struggle to find out where she belongs.

Esther Rosen, Essie if you please, is more than ready to leave her hometown of Harborview. Luckily for her, it’s her last first day of high school and she can’t wait for school to finally end so she can graduate and get away from here! While it seems like the end may be far off in the future, time has a funny way of playing tricks. With her best friend off at Columbia living her best life, her brother across the country in rehab, and her mom turning every conversation into a fight, Essie is struggling to find her way. Essie should be able to turn to her boyfriend Bruno, but even he has become weirdly distant. Through all of these ups and downs, Essie knows one thing: she has a limited number of days before she will start school at NYU in the acting program of her dreams with her best friend.

It doesn’t take long before Essie’s plans start to unravel. Her best friend isn’t responding to her texts, Bruno breaks up with her, and her mom’s constant nagging about perfection ramp up her anxiety. After she bombs her audition, Essie is at a loss. She missed the audition window for the community theater group she usually works with and instead has to try out for the school play. When she’s cast opposite Christopher Sun, Essie is conflicted. While Christopher is charming and attractive, he is also the young brother of the drug dealer who got her older brother hooked on drugs and caused all her family’s problems. How can she be attracted to Christopher? Is he a rebound? Or is what she feeling for him real?

This young adult debut graphic novel was gorgeously written and drawn. The illustrator used blue watercolor tones to highlight the story, focusing on details and expression in each interaction. Even though the artwork is monochromatic, readers are easily able to see the big emotions play across each character. You Belong Here is ripe with teenage angst as Essie struggles with her family, friends, and feelings.

Visitations written and illustrated by Corey Egbert

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Inspired by true events, Visitations, written and illustrated by Corey Egbert, dives into a formative part of Corey’s childhood that starts him on a path to change his life forever. This young adult graphic novel has strong themes of religion, mental illness, and family dynamics. To me, Visitations was an insight into a young child’s upbringing in the Mormon church and how he was influenced by those around him.

Growing up, Corey was closer to his mom than his dad. His mom always made him feel safe, while he felt further away from his dad. Something happened in the family when Corey’s sister was young that caused his parents to divorce which led to visitations with his dad. He dreaded the visitations, especially as he grew older because his mother’s accusations against his dad and his dad’s side of the family became more erratic. She insisted that Corey be his sister’s protector against their father as she believed he was the devil and trying to turn them against her.

Corey’s mother relied strongly on the Lord through all of their troubles. One day, she received a message that Corey and his sister were to stop the visitations with their father. She took Corey and his sister away from their home and traveled deep into the Nevada desert. With seemingly no directions except to believe that the Heavenly Father had a plan for them, the three traveled with little food, living in their car, while running from the police. Tensions quickly grew to a breaking point. Corey was consistently visited by a flickering ghost who urged him to look outside of what his mother had been telling him for years. This graphic novel deals with heavy topics: mental illness, religion, and ever-changing family dynamics. I appreciated the author’s examination of religion and belief systems, how those are so intertwined into every aspect of life, and how hard finding the line between imagination and memory, the truth and lies can be. This was a four star read for me, but could be triggering for others.

One Year at Ellsmere written by Faith Erin Hicks, color by Shelli Paroline

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Growing up, I was intrigued by books about boarding schools. As an adult, it’s easy for me to look back and see that I was searching for stories about people different than me going to school somewhere that couldn’t be more opposite than the Midwest public school that I attended. While walking the shelves, I found One Year at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks and instantly knew my younger self would have loved this one.

One Year at Ellsmere tells the story of Juniper and her first year at Ellsmere, a prestigious boarding school she was only able to attend because of the scholarship she won. Showing up on her first day, Juniper is worried, but she knows that she excels at academics, so this shouldn’t be too hard. After meeting her roommate, Cassie, Juniper realizes that the friendship part may be more difficult than she thought. Hopeful that academics will make up for her awkwardness, Juniper is ready for school to begin. At orientation, Juniper and Cassie’s bound strengthens when the queen bee of the school, Emily, picks on Cassie and Juniper jumps in to defend her. This unfortunately draws Juniper into Emily’s sights, leading Emily down a path to make her life at school difficult. Labeling Juniper the school’s special ‘project,’ Emily and her friends are determined to get Juniper expelled. While the school year progresses, the girls continue to clash while Cassie shares stories with Juniper about the school, its history, and the students who attend. One particular rumor of interest involves the Ellsmere sons, the forest, and a mythical beast that is rumored to roam in said forest. This intrigues Juniper, but with Emily out to get her, she focuses on how to outsmart Emily at her own game.

My younger self would have loved this story, but my older self felt like the story was fairly predictable. The characters of Juniper and Cassie made up for this though as they were easy to like and believable. Juniper was independent and headstrong, while Cassie started as mousy and meek, but grew more confident and fierce as the story progressed. The mean girls were a tad one-dimensional, but that wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. I hope that the author writes more in this world as the ending sets up perfectly for more!

Meesh the Bad Demon by Michelle Lam

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Michelle Lam’s juvenile graphic novel debut, Meesh the Bad Demon, is the story of unlikely heroes, bad guys, and the stereotypes and myths that surround them. Meesh, a bad demon, tries to find her place, but instead discovers that she doesn’t quite fit in with her peers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though!

Twelve-year-old Meesh would rather read magazines from Plumeria City (the fairy realm), watch fairy television shows, and talk to flowers instead of doing typical demon things. She spends her days seeing the good in people and the world around her. That, unfortunately makes Meesh a ‘bad’ demon in the eyes of her peers. Meesh struggles with fire breathing, acid-puking, horn-sharpening, lava-molding, and many other skills that her school in Mount Magma works to teach young demons to prepare them for the world. Luckily for Meesh, her grandma is there to listen and to try to understand her problems.

When disaster strikes Mount Magma, Meesh is at first confused and scared. Running to her grandma for help, Meesh discovers that her grandma is in danger. All of demon-kind is in trouble and Meesh must find help. Escaping from Mount Magma, Meesh is on the lookout for other worlds. Stumbling upon the fairy realm, Meesh is convinced that the fairies will be able to help her save the other demons. Just when she thinks her problems are solved, Meesh realizes that something is not quite right in the fairy realm. They aren’t the perfect creatures she always thought, but Meesh is determined to solve her problem and ends up making new friends along the way. Meesh and her group of outcast friends all learn that there’s more to themselves than the stereotypical things others think about them. Learning to love yourself and knowing your own strengths while being able to ask for help are just some of the important lessons that readers will learn in this book.

Meesh the Bad Demon was absolutely adorable. While I am definitely not the target audience of this juvenile graphic novel, I appreciated the author’s clear determination to teach readers about the importance of understanding and accepting others’ differences. Highly recommend.

Stealing Home written by J. Torres with illustrations by David Namisato

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Written by J. Torres and illustrated by David Namisato, Stealing Home tells the story of how baseball helped a young boy through hard times. While I have read many books about the Japanese American experience during World War II, Stealing Home was my first read about Japanese Canadians. Highly recommend this juvenile graphic novel told from the perspective of Sandy Saito as he looks back to his childhood in 1940s Vancouver.

Growing up in Vancouver in the 1940s, Sandy was an eight year old whose biggest worry was when he could watch the Asahi baseball team play. He spent his time reading comic books, going to school, and cheering on the Asahi, the pride of the Japanese Canadian community. At home, Sandy spent time with his younger brother, his mother, and his father, a doctor with his own office in the community. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the lives of all North Americans of Japanese descent changed. First the changes were small, but eventually his family was sent to a remote internment camp without his father. His father was at a camp far away, where they spent months separated. Sandy, his brother, and his mother found ways to cope with the harshness of the camp. Eventually baseball made its way to the camp. This proves to be fortuitous for Sandy as it helps him deal with the big emotions he has been facing and the circumstances he has been dealt.

Stealing Home was incredibly emotional, but seeing this story through the eyes of an eight-year-old definitely softened some of the harshness of that period. Although this is a fictional story, the author clearly thoroughly researched this subject. There are also notes with more background information and other important topics central to the story at the end of the book. I recommend this graphic novel for those looking for a book that deals with the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II with sensitivity and a unique perspective.

Soma with script by Fernando Llor

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Fernando Llor wrote the script for the science fiction graphic novel, Soma, that had me fully immersed in this saturated story of a comic book artist in a creative crisis. The premise was one I hadn’t read before, filled with primary colored artwork. The constant scene changes made the storyline a little hard to follow the first time through, but on my second read, I was able to pick up on context clues that helped me follow along. I recommend Soma if you’re looking for a chaotic piece of science fiction with a really cool art style. This was so weird, yet captivating.

Maya, a comic book artist, is stuck in a rut. She’s in a creative rut, not able to finish the current comic book she’s working on. She’s consistently stressed about deadlines and lack of ideas. She doesn’t feel connected to what she’s writing, but nevertheless needs to finish. She wants to make something she loves, but also needs to make ends meet. One day, her best friend Juu messages her in a panic about his upcoming date. Meeting up with him, Maya attempts to boost his confidence on how to make this date a success. Back at her place, Maya hears a loud noise from another room. Sneaking into the living room. she discovers an extraterrestrial alien named Soma has crashed through her window. At a loss, Maya tries to help Soma. In the midst of the mess, Soma delivers a message to Maya about an alien invasion, from his own kind, that is about to happen! Maya is even more shocked when she learns that Soma needs her help to stop this complete destruction. Thrown into a disaster, Maya leaps into action, determined to save the planet, her friends, and herself.

Soma / script, Fernando Llor ; art & colors, Carles Dalmau ; colors, Eiden Marsal ; color assists, Helz & Eric Morales ; translated by Diego Jourdan Pereira ; lettered by AndWorld Design.

Loving, Ohio written by Matthew Erman and illustrated by Sam Beck

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“We all lived here. In some way. And wherever you live it leaves imprints on you.” – Matthew Erman, Loving, Ohio

In Loving, Ohio, four teens are dealing with the tragic suicide of one of their friends amidst the mystery of an overbearing cult in this supernatural horror graphic novel voted one of New York Public Library’s Best New Comics of 2024. As someone who devours any and all fiction and nonfiction about cults, Loving, Ohio was the top of my list. The cult in this book gave me strong Church of Scientology vibes, but with enough quirkiness that I was freaked out at points.

Sloane, Elliott, Cameron, and Ana are four teenagers trying to make it through high school while people go missing or are murdered in the town where they live, Loving, Ohio. Loving was built around The Chorus, a new age cult with members in high ranking positions of power and influence within both the cult and the community. Everyone in the community is enamored by The Chorus with it leaching into any and every business and family around. Sloane and her friends are not thrilled with The Chorus and have plans to hopefully make it out of Loving alive. When one of their close friends dies by suicide, the four decide enough is enough. When more murders happen, the four find themselves hunting down the murderer while dealing with normal teen things like finding out their place in the world. All of this loss is dealt with while The Chorus looms over them.

This book was incredibly well written. The art was gorgeous, the story was freaky and unsettling, and the horror was horrifying. While Loving, Ohio clearly has supernatural elements throughout, the characters are still dealing with the mundanity of life, albeit with immense levels of grief and nightmare mixed in. Highly recommend.

Cross My Heart and Never Lie written and illustrated by Nora Dåsnes, translated by Matt Bagguley

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Nora Dåsnes, a Norwegian author and illustrator, has written the Stonewall Book Award winning juvenile graphic novel Cross My Heart and Never Lie. This graphic novel, translated by Matt Bugguley, tells the story of Tuva, a new seventh grader, and her questions about becoming a teenager. Tuva has big goals for the year. She wants a trendy look, to build the best fort in the woods with her two best friends Linnea and Boa, and to do so many other things. When she starts seventh grade, Tuva quickly realizes that nothing is what she thought it would be.

Linnea has fallen in love and has a boyfriend. Bao thinks that this is ridiculous and absolutely hates everything to do with love. They both expect Tuva to pick a side, which is not what she wants to do. As the days pass, her friends split into two teams: Team Linnea and the girls who fall in love versus Team Bao and the girls who will never fall in love. Tuva spends her time wondering where she falls and struggling to keep both of her friends happy. On one hand, she wants to stay a kid and build forts with Bao, but on the other hand, she wants to learn how to become a mature teenager like Linnea. When Miriam, a new student, shows up, Tuva is drawn to her. She feels like she has met her soulmate, but that adds more confusion for Tuva. What is she feeling? Will her friends accept her? How will she survive these big changes?

I wish Cross My Heart and Never Lie had been around when I was in junior high. It was so refreshing to read about an awkward seventh grader who had no idea who they were and was struggling to figure out basically everything. This age is so confusing, but Nora addresses this awkwardness in an incredibly realistic way. The choice of a diary-style graphic novel added to the relatability for me. At points, I found myself wanting to be able to reach into the book and tell Tuva that everything will be okay. Five star read.