Heartstopper

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (graphic novel)

Graphix, 9781338617436

Charlie is skinny and gay (he was outed last year, and then bullied as a result).  Nick is a big rugby player with a kind heart.  They become friends…and then more.  There is a lot of confusion as both boys try to sort out what labels they want to claim, and who they will allow to influence them.  Their affection grows stronger throughout the story, even when things go completely sideways.  Best of all: even when they doubt themselves they are both adorable.

Oseman’s art is friendly and accessible, depicting the emotions of characters beautifully.  Be ready to have volume 2 in the series ready to read, because the first book ends on a cliff hanger!  Highly recommended for ages 12 to adult.

bullying, cussing, cussing (mild), friendship, gay friends, gender diversity, graphic novel, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, off-page intimacy, parents, rainbow+, sports, Star Trek sex, straight friends

Gender Queer

 

Gender Queer : a memoir  by Maia Kobabe

Lion Forge, 9781549304002

In 5th grade, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, had the feeling that everybody else had access to information that e lacked — not an uncommon feeling for 5th graders. This feeling persisted through high school and college, and always seemed to center around gender identity. Maia doesn’t identify as female, but e doesn’t feel like a guy, either. What is e?

There is a lot of controversy over this book, including attacks by politicians, school boards, and parents upset about certain sexual situations and images. Significantly, many of these would-be censors say that they have not read the entire book, and are reacting only to a few select pages and images. Maia’s story is 239 pages long, and taking a few pages out of context destroys the entire purpose of the book: to tell about eir entire journey.  

bullying, cussing (mild), diversity, friendship, gay friends, gender diversity, graphic novel, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, non-fiction, on-page sex,  parents, rainbow+

We Need to Talk About Vaginas

We Need to Talk About Vaginas : an important book about vulvas, periods, puberty, and sex!  by Dr. Allison K. Rogers

St. Martin’s Press  9781684492848

A gynecologist explains, examines, and answers questions about female bodies and the changes experienced in the transition from childhood to adulthood.  Topics (in addition to those called out in the title) include: public hair, ovaries, cramps, hymens, masturbation, sexually transmitted diseases, gender identity, and the history of flying vaginas!  The narration is honest and straightforward, using correct medical vocabulary. The illustrations show a variety of differently colored and shaped bodies.  Recommended for age 8 and up.

Birth control, diversity, gender diversity, graphic novel, masturbation, mental health, non-fiction, on-page sex,  parents, pregnancy, rainbow+, sexual assault, teachers

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy

 

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks (graphic novel)

First Second, 9781250838728

Alix loves playing hockey so much that she is willing to put up with bullying from the team captain. But after one snide comment too many, Alix’s temper snaps and she punches Lindsay in the face in front of the whole team. Now her recommendation to hockey camp is in jeopardy, her mom is mad, and Alix doesn’t know what to do. Then, she sees “gay drama boy” Ezra (he’s really bi, not gay, this is important) being bullied (by Lindsay’s boyfriend, because real life does work that way) but responding in a healthier way.

So, Alix does what any other other socially awkward, probably spectrum-y person would do: she asks Ezra to teach her to chill out. The resulting friends-to-lovers story is sweet in all the possible ways. Heaps of emotional growth for everyone–except Lindsay, of course. Evocative drawings by the author and plenty of Canadian references. Alix and Ezra hold hands, kiss, and spend a night together in the front seat of a broken-down pickup truck–any sexual activity beyond that is tactfully off-page. Recommended for ages 12 to adult, especially readers who love the stage, hockey games, or both.

Bullying, diversity, friendship, gay friends, graphic novel, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, neurodivergence, off-page intimacy, rainbow+, sports, Star Trek sex, straight friends.

Check Please!

Check Please!  by Ngozi Ukazu

Eric "Bitty" Bittle just wants to bake pies, listen to pop music, vlog, play hockey, and maybe make some friends on the college hockey team.  A former Southern Junior Champion figure skater, he's kinda small for hockey, but he's wicked fast on the ice and that counts for a lot on a competitive team.  

It will take a long time for Bitty to come out as gay to his teammates...especially to team captain (and secret crush) Jack Zimmermann.  In the meantime, there are college classes, epic keggers, and (of course) hockey.

Don't let the big-eyed manga style of the illustrations fool you:  this is not a kiddie comic.  The characters are college guys (and gals) and they are rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.  They cuss a lot.  In other words, they are hockey players.  They are also good friends, and much sweeter to each other than you might think.  

I wouldn't normally put "hockey player" and "adorable" in the same sentence, but this book practically requires that I do.  Love the supportive environment, love the ongoing references to fabulous food (mmmMMMmm, pie!), love the art, love the story.  

Highly recommended for ages 14 and up.  

The Prince and the Dressmaker

The Prince and the Dressmaker  by Jen Wang (graphic novel)

Prince Sebastian has a secret.

Some days I look in the mirror and think, "That's me, Prince Sebastian!  I wear boy clothes and look like my father.  Other days it doesn't feel right at all.  Those days I feel like I'm actually...a princess."

Although Sebastian is sure that his family would be ruined and his parents would disown him if the secret ever got out, he does share it--and his dreams of being known in public as the glamorous Lady Crystallia--with his dressmaker.  Frances not only encourages Sebastian, she creates fabulous gowns for Lady Crystallia that are soon the talk of all Paris. 

And then, things go wrong.

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel is a quick and compelling read with a sweet, satisfying ending.  Reading it restored my faith in humans (and who doesn't need a bit of that?) and I plan to share it enthusiastically with teens, tweens...and parents.

Highly recommended, ages 10 to adult.

Spinning

Spinning  by Tillie Walden

Tillie Walden was a competitive figure and synchronized ice skater for twelve years, but she says that although an ice rink will always be a familiar place, it will also always make her cringe.

With skating as the backdrop, the author conducts readers through a tour of the changes in her young life:  a family move from New Jersey to Texas, making (and losing) friends, learning new skills on the ice, falling in love with another girl, coming out to her friends and family, and always prepping for the next competition. 

Tillie worked hard.  She was good, and successful...and she hated the whole thing.

Using a comic/graphic novel format, Tillie tells her story--not just the skating, but other parts as well:  her friends, her family, and always, her loneliness.  The illustrations are simple, thoughtful and compelling.  

Recommended for readers 12 to adult.  Sexual situations are discussed tactfully, and there are no nekkid bodies on the page.  

Amazing Fantastic Incredible

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: a MARVELous memoir   by Stan Lee and Peter David and Colleen Doran

Of course Stan Lee's memoir is told in comic format.  

Mere print could never capture the exuberance, the ego, and the buoyant zest of the most legendary name in the history of comic books.  Stan Lee not only co-created many of Marvel Comics' most popular superhero characters like Spiderman, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and the Uncanny X-men, he spent his long and prolific career writing, editing, promoting and publishing comic books and the comic book industry.  

Stan Lee narrates his own life story with the same bouncy, conversational narrative style that he uses when talking to groups at comic book conventions:  big gestures, big ideas, and lots and lots of enthusiasm for the fun life he has had.  He doesn't skip over the sad stuff or the hard stuff, but he doesn't dwell there, either.  There are lots of little anecdotes from his life and plenty of unexpected stories too, like the time he worked on a WWII US Army campaign to combat venereal disease (give yourself a giggle and do a Google Image search for "VD Not Me" to see some of the vintage posters created by the campaign).

The narrative reads like a brag sheet splashed with copious amounts of super-radioactive slime:  it's not great literature, but it is great fun.  There are mentions of sex and sexual situations, references to comic book violence, and plenty of scantily-clad female superheros pictured.  Plus a few epic superheros who turn green or burst into flame periodically.

Highly recommended.  

I am Princess X

I am Princess X  by Cherie Priest

May is still mourning her best friend Libby, who died a couple of years ago when the car went off a bridge.

But maybe Libby didn't die.

The comic character created by the girls, a princess with blue hair, red Chuck Taylors and a katana suddenly shows up in graffiti all over Seattle.  Then, May finds clues hidden in a webcomic: clues that lead her all over town, with a trail that might end with the discovery of a hiding, still-alive Libby.

This quick-moving story is interspersed with pages from the Princess X comic, and features action, adventure, friendship, mystery, and NO ROMANCE.  Extra points for racial and gender diversity among characters that does not feel forced or tokenistic.  

Things get a little name-droppy in the Seattle department, but at least the author used to live here and understands that just because there's a Starbucks on every corner doesn't mean that most natives actually buy coffees there.  

Recommended for readers of print and graphic novels, ages 12 to adult.  

Exquisite Corpse (graphic novel)

Exquisite Corpse  by Penelope Bagieu

translation by Alexis Siegel

Twenty-something Zoe is stuck in a dead-end job, with a deadbeat boyfriend and no prospects for a better future.  She doesn't read much, either, which is the reason she doesn't recognize that the oddly reclusive writer she meets by chance.  

It's also the reason that she doesn't know that the author she meets is supposed to be dead.

Sexy, poignant, and silly in spots.  The ending made me laugh.  

Though written and marketed for adults, mature teens will enjoy it.  

Station Eleven

Station Eleven  by Emily St. John Mandel

On an ordinary, snowy Toronto night, 8-year-old Kirsten Raymonde is onstage watching a famous actor playing King Lear die of a heart attack.

Three weeks later, almost everyone else present in the theatre that night is dead of a virulent mutant Swine Flu.

Four weeks later, almost everyone else in the world is dead of the virus.

Fifteen years later, the Earth is only sparsely populated by survivors of the virus and the social collapse that followed.

Kirsten is one of the survivors.  Twenty years after the flu epidemic, Kirsten is a member of the Traveling Symphony, a ragtag group of musicians and actors on a never-ending tour of the surviving settlements, performing Bach, Beethoven, and Shakespeare because, as the motto written on the first caravan says, "Survival is insufficient"  (a quote borrowed from "Star Trek: Voyager)

This is not a gentle apocalypse.  Some survivors have banded together in peaceful villages.  Others are drawn to Doomsday cults.  Some cling desperately to the glorious history of humanity, telling whispered tales of flying machines, air conditioning, and antibiotics.  Others eschew the past, wanting to spare their children the ugliness of the now-gone world.

The tale bounces back and forth along the timeline, from pre-apocalypse to various points in the collapse, which might be confusing but isn't.  Throughout the novel, the lasting power of art and literature lend small amounts of grace and strength to the characters. From Sartre's "Hell is other people" to Miranda's "Brave new world, that has such people in’t," this novel will deeply affect the way readers view their technology-enhanced world...and each other.

Although written and marketed as a book for adults, this story is highly recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.  Sexual situations are tactfully off-stage, violence is on-stage but not gory.

The Undertaking of Lily Chen

The Undertaking of Lily Chen  by Danica Novgorodoff

When Deshi's older brother Wei dies accidentally, his parents send Deshi on a quest to bring back a "corpse bride" so that their eldest son will not be alone in the afterlife.  With cash in hand, Deshi seeks out a grave robber...but the search is, ultimately, much more complicated than just digging up some bones to be buried along with Wei.

This story of modern China is full of fascinating, flawed characters.  Deshi and Wei are hardly ideal, upstanding citizens:  Wei is a drunk, a gambler, and a jerk.  Deshi is now working as a security guard having messed up as an army pilot.  Lily is pretty, but is also pretty annoying at times.   The supporting cast is equally dinged-up, and this makes the story much more interesting, and makes the ending much more satisfying.

Beautiful romantically-washed watercolor landscapes juxtaposed with wobbly line-drawn human figures allow the reader's eyes to travel quickly through the book, and the quickly moving narrative suites the illustrations.   

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.  The characters are all adults, but the family dysfunction issues will appeal to teens.  No cussing, some (cartoon) blood, the on-page sex scene is tactfully masked with blankets and black ink.

Drama

Drama  by Raina Telgemeier, with color by Gurihiru

Middle-school student Callie loves everything theatric. 

She loves the lights, she loves the music, she loves the audience, she loves the costume vault, and she loves being set designer for the school production of "Moon Over Mississippi." 

Although Callie and her friends focus a lot of attention on the play, there is still plenty of time and energy to devote to the other kind of middle school drama:  the boyfriends, the girlfriends, the getting-togethers and the breakups.

Callie's friendship with the other drama kids is absolutely on-target, and the graphic novel portrayal of life behind the stage is note-perfect.  Racial and sexual diversity is portrayed realistically and with charm; no cussing, no violence (except a bit of social back-stabbing from the leading lady), a few sweet kisses, and a bunch of growing up for almost all the characters.

Highly recommended for drama kids, aspiring drama kids, and retired drama kids, ages 12 to adult. 

Americus

 

 

Americus  written by M.K. Reed, drawn by Jonathan Hill

 

8th-graders Neil and Daniel would rather read books in their favorite fantasy series The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde than pay attention to their gossipy classmates or the adults in their small town of Americus. 

 

 

 

However, Daniel's mom is convinced that Apathea is the work of the devil and sends her son away to military school, leaving Neil alone to defend his favorite book.  However, it turns out that Neil isn't alone in loving the book....

 

Here is a great graphic novel depicting terrific friendships inspired by books.  Following the example of the main character in Apathea, Neil learns to stand up to bullies on behalf of other book-lovers, gains the confidence of classmates and the local library staff, and even starts a new romance with a fellow-bookworm.  Three cheers!

 

Highly recommended for readers ages 12 to adult.  No sex or cussing; there are depictions of bullying and some rather ugly adult behaviors towards books, children, and other adults.

The Color of Earth

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

Ehwa is seven years old on the first page of this beautifully illustrated manhwa, interested in bugs, flowers, and her own body. As she grows and matures, she discovers the physical differences between boys and girls, grows into young womanhood and undergoes her first confusing experience with romance and sexuality. Her mother, the keeper of a small tavern in rural Korea, also experiences changes as a traveling artist reawakens her affection, and mother and daughter are able to share their experiences in a lovely, open, and age-appropriate manner. Themes of love, sexuality, and natural beauty abound in this attractive volume, which is first in a trilogy translated from the Korean by Lauren Na.

No cussing or killing; nudity and sexual situations are portrayed. According to the notes at the end of the story, the popularity of this series in Korea is surprising because it is written by a man and read by both men and women there.

Recommended for readers ages 12 and up, even those who do not normally read graphic novels. The next books in the series continue telling the story of Ehwa's maturation into adulthood.