Book picks similar to
Gottfried Helnwein: I Was a Child by Peter Frank
illustrated
realistic-fiction
slice-of-life
art-design
Soupy Leaves Home
Cecil Castellucci - 2017
Reborn as a boy named Soupy, she hitches her star to Remy "Ramshackle" Smith, a hobo who takes her under his wing. Ramshackle's kindness and protection go a long way to help Soupy heal from her difficult past. But Ramshackle has his own demons to wrestle with, and he'll need Soupy just as much as she needs him."A compelling graphic offering that explores relevant gender roles and self-identity through a historical lens." - from the Kirkus Starred Review"VERDICT A well-researched and richly illustrated runaway tale that will appeal to fans of escapist fiction and thoughtful readers."-Anna Murphy, �Berkeley Carroll School, Brooklyn, From the School Library Journal review, March 2017"Soupy Leaves Home tells the story of a time no longer familiar to us--a time of living the rails and simmering Mulligan Soup, a time of chosen names and secret languages--yet a tale that anyone with a longing heart and a restless spirit can relate to. It transports you magically to a place long gone, but its tale of poverty and survival are still as relevant as they ever were--the characters may be penniless, but they are so emotionally wealthy that this book leaves you filled with warmth, hope, and love."--Gerard Way"Castellucci's heartfelt odyssey is a reckoning with death and identity on the tracks, brought to life by Pimienta's patient, ever-evolving use of color. Soupy Leaves Home is for all restless souls hungry to start again."--Nate Powell (March, Swallow Me Whole)"A charming and optimistic slice of Americana."--Hope Larson (Wrinkle in Time, Batgirl)"I love Cecil Castellucci, she is crazy and cool and full of energy and heart, and so is all of her work. And Soupy Leaves Home may be one of her finest and most effecting works yet!"--Jeff Lemire
My Riot
Rick Spears - 2020
The story follows Val, a teenage ballerina from a conservative family in early '90s Virginia, as she falls in love with punk rock and forms a Riot Grrrl band.
The Paper Kingdom
Helena Ku Rhee - 2020
But the story is about more than brooms, mops, and vacuums. Mama and Papa turn the deserted office building into a magnificent kingdom filled with paper. Then they weave a fantasy of dragons and kings to further engage their reluctant companion--and even encourage him to one day be the king of a paper kingdom.The Paper Kingdom expresses the joy and spirit of a loving family who turn a routine and ordinary experience into something much grander. Magical art by Pascal Campion shows both the real world and the fantasy through the eyes of the young narrator.
Let's Play
Leeanne M. Krecic - 2017
To make matters worse, she soon finds out he's her new neighbor!
Microbrewer Alchemist
Jon Svenson - 2021
After his parents died in a horrific car crash, he uses the inheritance money to start a brewery and gets married.Happiness doesn't last very long. The brewery is struggling, and his marriage is rocky. Still, he has his team at work supporting him. Until he doesn't.Microbrewer Alchemist is the story of a man who stumbles upon a secret that he is still trying to understand while turning his life around at the same time. There are no intimate scenes or harems, but there is a bit of swearing.
Fuck, Now There Are Two of You (Go the Fuck to Sleep #3)
Adam Mansbach - 2019
But what could possibly be left?Parents—new, old, expectant, and grand—of multiple children already knew the answer. Adam discovered it for himself by having two more kids, less than two years apart.Fuck, Now There Are Two of You is a loving monologue about the new addition to the family, addressed to a big sibling and shot through with Adam’s trademark profane truth-telling. Gorgeously illustrated and chock-full of unspoken sentiments channeled directly from the brains of parents worldwide, Fuck, Now There Are Two of You articulates all the fears and frustrations attendant to the simple, math-defying fact that two is a million more kids than one.As you probably know by now, you shouldn’t read it to a child.
Sumo
Thien Pham - 2012
But things have a way of working out, in this sweet, poetic tale--and a new chapter in Scott's life begins as the old one ends. Offered a position in a Japanese sumo training "stable," Scott abandons his old life, his old name, and even his old hair color, and becomes an aspiring sumo wrestler. And in so doing, he begins to find some kind of center in himself...a center that had seemed lost for good. Thien Pham, the acclaimed illustrator of Gene Luen Yang's Level Up, returns as the writer and artist of a unique new graphic novel.Highly poetic and structured to echo the slow build and sudden clash of a sumo match, Pham's Sumo is an unusual and beautiful book. It's nearly a contradiction in terms: a delicate, deft, tender tale about...sumo wrestling.
Humor me
Marvin - 2015
Since her mother passed away and her father fled his responsibilities, everyday became a trial for the high schooler. But Charlie is determined to do everything to protect her brother, be it lying to the authorities and neighbours, imitating her father's signature, or letting everyone think she's a boy.No matter if her schoolmates think she's a weirdo with no friends, she has only one goal in mind : reaching graduation and majority without trouble !
The Aussie Mana Apocalypse
Christopher J. Timms - 2020
Then the monsters showed up.Isolated in the Aussie outback with his best mate Nugget, Nugget's sister Mel (who he definitely did not have a thing with), Mel's new latte-sipping boyfriend, and a British backpacker, why isn’t Keat panicked?Because Keat’s a gamer.And every gamer knows, there’s always a way to power level. (also...because he has a giant wombat).You’ll love this LitRPG Western, set in the Australian Outback, because it reminds us how people change on a gap year, and because it takes the piss. Get it now.
Beginnings (Peaks of Power Book 1)
Paul Campbell Jr. - 2018
Bored with his life as a casual player, he slipped easily into the lifestyle of a professional gamer. After reaching the pinnacle of success, an email arrived from the mysterious Beta Academy. With his best friend and self-proclaimed bodyguard, Dimitri, he decides to take a chance and accept the strange offer contained within. Overconfident in his skills, Ryan thinks he’ll defeat this game as easily as every other, but that confidence is shaken and shattered within the first fifteen minutes. This wasn’t a standard game with haptic chairs or gloves; this was the real thing. Ryan and Dimitri must learn the heights of the Peaks of Power… and what it will take to achieve their summit.
Red Light Hero
Kory Shen - 2018
Alan Star thinks he's the luckiest guy in the world, but fantasy turns into nightmare when a late-night meetup with a heroine turns deadly. To the dismay of the powers-in-charge, Alan has stumbled upon the dirty truth behind the squeaky-clean image of the hero business. Soon, everyone from government black ops to angry superpowered flames want to shut him up. Permanently. With nowhere else to run, Alan escapes to the one place that the heroes won't go: the underground world of a fabled hero-killer. There, he discovers the key to becoming the greatest hero of all. Alan will have to gain new powers, seduce even more superpowered babes, and face the true menace lurking in the shadows. Witness the birth of the Red Light Hero. Warning: This book contains diverse adult situations and possibly unwholesome interactions such as superpowered flings, polyamory, and biology experiments gone wild. This book also contains light gamelit mechanics in the final act.
I Hate to Wait
Sigal Adler - 2018
Young Harry Monster has waited all year And now Halloween is almost here He knows just what he wants to be A pirate – the terror of the high sea!
The Red Kayak
John R. Weber - 2006
Fortunately, he meets Nick Dietrich, the waterfront director, who helps him overcome his fears and eventually have enough confidence to pass his swimming test and learn to kayak. Jordan's first relationship with Nick is that of hero-worship. When Jordan helps Nick rescue two of Jordan's friends from the lake at night, Jordan's hero-worship turns into a deep friendship. Later, Nick takes Jordan on his first whitewater kayak trip in northern Wisconsin on the Wolf River. Jordan discovers that it's much harder to kayak on a moving river than on a lake and he is terrified of the rushing water. Early in the trip, Nick is seriously injured in an accident that Jordan thinks he caused. Since Nick can no longer paddle, Jordan must overcome his fears of the water and paddle by himself almost twenty miles to the take-out point to get help to rescue Nick. After Nick is rescued, Jordan must confront his guilt and somehow maintain his friendship with Nick.
From Ashes To Dreams
Rashmi Trivedi - 2018
Naina was at such a crossroad! An orphan, she did not have much to look forward to in life, until she fell in love. Love gave her wings and she started to fly, only to come crashing down as the wind beneath her wings turned into a storm. She tries putting an end to her now wretched existence, but fate has some other plans for her. She comes to know that she has limited time to live and decides to start living everyday instead of merely surviving. She lives every moment without worrying about the future she does not have or the past that could not be undone. She falls in love once again, this time with life! Will fate respect her fortitude?
Rock Star
Kelly Starling Lyons - 2017
She'd much rather wander outside looking for cool rocks to add to her collection, since finding rocks is much easier than finding friends. So when Jada's teacher announces a class project on rocks and minerals, Jada finally feels like she's in her element. The only problem: one of her teammates doesn't seem to like any of Jada's ideas. She doesn't seem to like Jada all that much, either. Can Jada figure out a way to make a winning science project and a new friend? The early chapter book bridges between leveled readers and chapter books for fluent readers adjusting to the chapter book format. At about 5,000 words, with short chapters and two-color art on almost every page, it will appeal to this unique reader. The two-color art throughout will help readers transition from the familiar four-color art of leveled readers and ease them into black-and-white chapter books.