Staff Picks

This is one of those graphic novels that changes with you as you change as a reader. I remember being the fiercely independent teen crowded by the expectations of others trying to figure out how, or whether, I wanted to fit in. I have been the side character cousin angry at everyone for pretending that trauma is normal. I am now the mother, watchful and aware that I have to step back and let my kids be themselves. Highly recommend.

 

Publisher's description:
Ash has always felt alone.
Adults ignore the climate crisis. Other kids Ash's age are more interested in pop stars and popularity contests than in fighting for change. Even Ash's family seems to be sleepwalking through life.
The only person who ever seemed to get Ash was their Grandpa Edwin. Before he died, he used to talk about building a secret cabin, deep in the California wilderness. Did he ever build it? What if it's still there, waiting for him to come back...or for Ash to find it? To Ash, that maybe-mythical cabin is starting to feel like the perfect place for a fresh start and an escape from the miserable feeling of alienation that haunts their daily life.
But making the wilds your home isn't easy. And as much as Ash wants to be alone...can they really be happy alone? Can they survive alone?
From New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator Jen Wang comes a singularly affecting story about self-discovery, self-reliance, and the choice to live when it feels like you have no place in the world.

Find Ash's Cabin in our online catalog

In this deliciously good fantasy graphic novel, Basil and her friends navigate the pressures of attending a magiculinary boarding school. This book contains amazing LGBTQ+ representation and an adorable romance that will make you hungry for a snack while reading! Cozy up with this book!

 

Publisher's description: 

Basil Eyres and Arabella Oregano are both students of cooking with magic at Porta Bella Magiculinary Academy, and although the two are instantly smitten with each other, Arabella has a secret with the potential to throw Basil's future aspirations into jeopardy.

Find Basil and Oregano in our online catalog. 

This book has everything: Joy! Sorrow! Romance! Vampires! Fanfic! Archives! It may also be the most exquisitely written book I've read all year. Highly recommended for LGBTQIA+ readers in search of a story of love and self-discovery with a happy ending.

 

Publisher's description:

A whirlwind romance between an eccentric archivist and a grieving widow explores what it means to be at home in your own body in this clever, humorous, and heartfelt novel.

When archivist Sol meets Elsie, the larger than life widow of a moderately famous television writer who's come to donate her wife's papers, there's an instant spark. But Sol has a secret: he suffers from an illness called vampirism, and hides from the sun by living in his basement office. On their way to falling in love, the two traverse grief, delve into the Internet fandom they once unknowingly shared, and navigate the realities of transphobia and the stigmas of carrying the vampire disease.

Then, when strange things start happening at the collection, Sol must embrace even more of the unknown to save himself and his job. Dead Collections is a wry novel full of heart and empathy, that celebrates the journey, the difficulties and joys, in finding love and comfort within our own bodies.

 

This was a really great look at gender and sexuality. With brave honesty, Kobabe is able to break down concepts that may be confusing or complex to readers who are new to theories on gender and sexuality. I had just been having a conversation with my mother from an older generation about pronouns. She was very confused and couldn't grasp the concept. If only I had had this graphic novel on hand to give to her as a reference! Kobabe's personal story is profound and they are able to adapt it into this graphic memoir beautifully, in a very relatable and engaging way. This should be a must read for those curious about learning more about gender and sexuality.

 

Publisher's description:

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer, er intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity--what it means and how to think about it--for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

 

Find Gender Queer in our online catalog.

Companion Piece is so incredible. The book takes place during COVID time, and thus during the current ecological ruination of the world. It weaves in the power of imagination and the power of words (and pronoun changes) to change/make history. It is humble, powerful, and deeply caring. The main character is a free-thinking lesbian. Despite taking place in contemporary society, there is a fair amount of history presented too. I wish that my art could do what this text does, and as skillfully.

 

Publisher's description:

Here we are in extraordinary times. Is this history? What happens when we cease to trust governments, the media, each other? What have we lost? What stays with us? What does it take to unlock our future? Following her astonishing Seasonal Quartet, Ali Smith again lights a way for us through the nightmarish now, in a vital celebration of companionship in all its timeless and contemporary, legendary and unpindownable, spellbinding and shapeshifting forms. Companion Piece stands apart from the Quartet, which remains discrete unto itself. But like Smith's groundbreaking series, this new novel boldly captures the spirit of the times. 'Every hello, like every voice, holds its story ready, waiting.

 

Many menstruating people my age have a memory of our mothers handing us the American Girl Doll puberty guide, The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls by Valorie Schaefer, when we turned 12 to help us deal with puberty. That book was very important to me and many others growing up, and I'm so grateful that there are newer, way more informative and inclusive books these days that provide a more up-to-date knowledge framework. This book has a great tone--not too dry, not too flippant--that makes the reader feel as if a close friend is telling them this valuable information about menstruation. I found the various illustrations throughout to also be fun and helpful visuals. Overall, this is a wonderful resource for menstruating tweens.

 

Publisher's description:

A frank, funny, age-appropriate guide for pre-teens about getting your period, from Dr. Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes. Getting your period for the first time can be mortifying, weird and messy--and asking questions about it can be even worse. Packed with honest advice on managing Aunt Flo like a boss, this book will induct pre-teens into the secret society of menstruation: from demystifying what cramps feel like, to whether you can feel it coming out, to what you should do if your pad leaks onto your dress. With Yumi's sisterly wisdom and Dr. Kang's medical advice, case studies, first-person accounts and questions from real teens, this book for pre-teens (9-12 years) is guaranteed to make you feel special about getting your period.

 

Why bother picking one favorite color when you can love them all? This fun picture book is a great way to discuss colors, days of the week, and, most importantly, how colors don't have to be gender conforming. Once I start reading aloud the first color, pink, and how the gender nonconforming child likes to where his pink tutu on Sundays, my story time audience quiets down and they start to really listen to the story. I don't think this picture book is one that should be overlooked.

 

Publisher's description: 

Unable to choose one favorite color, a young boy enjoys wearing a pink tutu on Sundays, playing with an orange basketball on Tuesdays, and trying to change things with a purple wand on Saturdays.

Find Rainbow Boy in our online catalog. 

In The Adventures of China Iron, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara re-writes Martín Fierro, an epic poem about the founding of Argentina from a feminist, LGBT, postcolonial point of view. Our protagonist is named China (pronounced chee-nah), the Quechua-derived word for an indigenous woman, Iron, which alludes to Fierro. China's personal journey parallels that of the development of early colonial Argentina, but Cabezón Cámara subverts the dominant, genocidal, Euro-centric narrative, asking what if history was inclusive? The book ends in a racially and sexually heterogeneous utopia based on shared understanding and mutual cooperation. Told with humor and sophistication, this joyful and hallucinatory novel suggests that other worlds are not only possible, but that they might exist, hidden in plain sight, right alongside this one.

 

Publisher description: 

This is a riotous romp taking the reader from the turbulent frontier culture of the pampas deep into indigenous territories. It charts the adventures of Mrs. China Iron, Martín Fierro's abandoned wife, in her travels across the pampas in a covered wagon with her new-found friend, soon to become lover, a Scottish woman named Liz. While Liz provides China with a sentimental education and schools her in the nefarious ways of the British Empire, their eyes are opened to the wonders of Argentina's richly diverse flora and fauna, cultures and languages, as well as to its national struggles. After a clash with Colonel Hernández (the author who 'stole' Martín Fierro's poems) and a drunken orgy with gauchos, they eventually find refuge and a peaceful future in a utopian indigenous community, the river-dwelling Iñchiñ people. Seen from an ox-drawn wagon, the narrative moves through the Argentinian landscape, charting the flora and fauna of the Pampas, Gaucho culture, Argentinian nation-building, and British colonial projects.

 

This book is fantastic! Fred romps naked through his house, free as can be--until he ends up in his parents' closet and decides to try on some clothes. The illustrations in this book are unique and gorgeous, and every page has a fun surprise to discuss with your fellow readers. Don't miss the little surprise at the end!

 

Publisher's description:

After having fun running around the house naked and wild, young Fred decides to get dressed--in his parents' closet--with surprising results.