Book picks similar to
Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney


graphic-novels
graphic-novel
young-adult
comics

Magic to Brew


Grace Ellis - 2018
    Now it's up to the team of mythical pals to stop the illicit illusionist before it's too late.Collects issues 1 through 5.

Woman World


Aminder Dhaliwal - 2018
    Dhaliwal’s infectiously funny instagram comic follows the rebuilding process, tracking a group of women who have rallied together under the flag of “Beyonce’s Thighs.” Only Grandma remembers the distant past, a civilization of segway-riding mall cops, Blockbuster movie rental shops, and “That’s What She Said” jokes. For the most part, Woman World’s residents are focused on their struggles with unrequited love and anxiety, not to mention that whole “survival of humanity” thing.

Green Lantern: Legacy


Minh Lê - 2020
    But not even his most imaginative drawings could compare to the colorful adventure he's about to embark on.When Tai inherits his grandmother's jade ring, he soon finds out it's more than it appears. Suddenly he's being inducted into a group of space cops known as the Green Lanterns, his neighborhood is being overrun by some racist bullies, and every time he puts pen to paper, he's forced to confront that he might not be creative enough or strong enough to uphold his ba's legacy.Now Tai must decide what kind of hero he wants to be: will he learn to soar above his insecurities or will the past keep him grounded?

When You Were Everything


Ashley Woodfolk - 2020
    It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded. Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again. Now, Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex–best friend. But pretending Layla doesn’t exist isn’t as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor. Despite budding new friendships with other classmates—and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom—Cleo’s turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both. Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love.

The Prince and the Dressmaker


Jen Wang - 2018
    Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.

Witchy, Volume 1


Ariel Slamet Ries - 2019
    Those that are strong enough are conscripted by the Witch Guard, who enforce the law in peacetime and protect the land during war. However, those with hair judged too long are pronounced enemies of the kingdom, and annihilated. This is called a witch burning.Witchy is a comic about the young witch Nyneve, who is haunted by the death of her father and the threat the Witch Guard poses to her own life. When conscription rolls around, Nyneve has a choice to make; join the institution complicit in her father's death, or stand up for her ideals?Witchy was nominated for the 2015 Ignatz for Outstanding Online Comic, the 2016 DINKy for Outstanding Web Comic, and the Danish "Pingprisen" for Best Online Series in 2017 and 2018.

Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!, Volume 1: Hooked on a Feline


Kate Leth - 2016
    As she goes from living a double life to a triple, what the hell is Patsy Walker supposed to do? There'll be friendship and burgers, monsters and rent checks and a ghost from the past with questionable motives! Comics' most flexible heroine has been a provisional Avenger, a Defender, Satan's daughter-in-law and a dead woman–but she's never been anything like this!Collecting: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! 1-6

Watch Us Rise


Renée Watson - 2019
    They post everything online—poems, essays, videos of Chelsea performing her poetry, and Jasmine's response to the racial macroaggressions she experiences—and soon they go viral. But with such positive support, the club is also targeted by online trolls. When things escalate, the principal shuts the club down. Jasmine and Chelsea will risk everything for their voices—and those of other young women—to be heard.

Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass


Lilah Sturges - 2018
    Meanwhile, a lonely woman explorer is trying to steal the compass, with the help of some weirdly polite automaton butlers.Based on the New York Times bestseller and multiple Eisner-Award and GLAAD-award winning series, Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass is written by Lilah Sturges and illustrated by polterink.

DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 1: Enlisted


Marguerite BennettGarry Brown - 2016
    In these stories from issues #1-6 of the hit series, learn the story behind this alternate reality where the Second World War is fought by superpowered women on the front lines and behind the scenes! It all begins with the stories of Batwoman, Wonder Woman and Supergirl.

Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir


Liz Prince - 2014
    But she wasn't exactly one of the guys, either. She was somewhere in between. But with the forces of middle school, high school, parents, friendship, and romance pulling her this way and that, "the middle" wasn't exactly an easy place to be.Tomboy follows award-winning author and artist Liz Prince through her early years and explores—with humor, honesty, and poignancy—what it means to "be a girl."

Hot Comb


Ebony Flowers - 2019
    The titular story “Hot Comb” is about a young girl’s first perm - a doomed ploy to look cool and to stop seeming “too white” in the all-black neighborhood her family has just moved to. Realizations about race, class, and the imperfections of identity swirl through these stories, which are by turns sweet, insightful, and heartbreaking.“Following in the rich tradition of Lynda Barry, Ebony Flowers addresses the sometimes harsh, sometimes devastating pangs of childhood ending. She pays beautiful homage to the struggle to find your place in a world that has such rigid rules about who we are,” Drawn & Quarterly Publisher and acquiring editor Peggy Burns commented. “Hot Comb explores the poetry in everyday life, all the while centering the lives and stories of black women. Ebony’s ease with the comics language is remarkable. Her black and white drawings, as well as her colour collage work, are both equally stunning.”

Goldie Vance Vol. 2


Hope Larson - 2017
    Collects issues #5-8 of the series.Sixteen-year-old Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives at a Florida resort with her dad, who manages the place. Her mom, who divorced her dad years ago, works as a live mermaid at a club downtown. Goldie has an insatiable curiosity, which explains her dream to one day become the hotel’s in-house detective. When Charles, the current detective, encounters a case he can’t crack, he agrees to mentor Goldie in exchange for her help solving the mystery.Eisner Award-winning writer Hope Larson (A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A Hellcat!) present the newest gal sleuth on the block with Goldie Vance, an exciting, whodunnit adventure.

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation


Damian Duffy - 2017
    Home is a new house with a loving husband in 1970s California that suddenly transformed in to the frightening world of the antebellum South. Dana, a young black writer, can't explain how she is transported across time and space to a plantation in Maryland. But she does quickly understand why: to deal with the troubles of Rufus, a conflicted white slaveholder--and her progenitor. Her survival, her very existence, depends on it. This searing graphic-novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's science fiction classic is a powerfully moving, unflinching look at the violent disturbing effects of slavery on the people it chained together, both black and white--and made kindred in the deepest sense of the word.

Shattered Warrior


Sharon Shinn - 2017
    These aliens are bent on harvesting the planet's resources to fuel their warships, no matter the cost to its human natives. Any defiance of the Derichets' rule—the smallest step out of line—can get you beaten, sent to a work camp, or even executed.Colleen's family is gone, killed in the war. She lives alone, far from the chaos of the city, far from the alien overseers and the dangerous gangs. Her only friends are the other humans who toil in the Derichet factory and, against all likelihood, a Derichet overseer. Colleen knows the safest thing to do is comply with the Derichet regime...until the day when the recklessly brave Jann and a violent gang of rebels called the Chromatti invade her quiet rural home. Now Colleen must decide if it's worth risking the survival of her newfound family to join the growing underground revolution against the Derichets and help free her world.Bestselling fantasy author Sharon Shinn (Troubled Waters) and artist Molly Knox Ostertag (Strong Female Protagonists) deliver a gripping science-fiction adventure of courage and revenge on a fallen world, with a sweeping romance at its heart.