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Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American
Laura Gao - 2022
"Messy Roots is a laugh-out-loud, heartfelt, and deeply engaging story of their journey to find themself--as an American, as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, as a queer person, and as a Wuhanese American in the middle of a pandemic."--Malaka Gharib, author of I Was Their American DreamAfter spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas, where her hometown is as foreign as Mars--at least until 2020, when COVID-19 makes Wuhan a household name.In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.
The Book Tour
Andi Watson - 2019
H. Fretwell, a minor English writer, embarks on a book tour to promote it. Nothing is going according to plan, and his trip gradually turns into a nightmare. But now the police want to ask him some questions about a mysterious disappearance, and it seems that Fretwell's troubles are only just beginning...In his first book for adults in many years, acclaimed cartoonist Andi Watson evokes all the anxieties felt by every writer and compresses them into a comedic gem of a book. Witty, surreal, and sharply observant, The Book Tour offers a captivating lesson in letting go.
The Bad Doctor
Ian Williams - 2014
Incontinent old ladies, men with eagle tattoos, traumatised widowers – Iwan’s patients cause him both empathy and dismay, as he tries to do his best in a world of limited time and budgetary constraints, and in which there are no easy answers. His feelings for his partners also cause him grief: something more than friendship for the sympathetic Dr Lois Pritchard, and not a little frustration at the prankish and obstructive Dr Robert Smith. Iwan’s cycling trips with his friend Arthur provide some welcome relief, but even the landscape is imbued with his patients’ distress. As we explore the phantoms from Iwan’s past, we too begin to feel compassion for The Bad Doctor, and ask what is the dividing line between patient and provider? Wry, comic, graphic, from the humdrum to the tragic, his patients’ stories are the spokes that make Iwan’s wheels go round in this humane and eloquently drawn account of a doctor’s life.
Catherine's War
Julia Billet - 2012
Although she hasn’t heard from her parents in months, she loves the people at her school, adores capturing what she sees in pictures, and tries not to worry too much about Hitler’s war. But as France buckles under the Nazi regime, danger closes in, and Rachel must change her name and go into hiding.As Catherine Colin, Rachel Cohen is faced with leaving the Sèvres Home—and the friends she made there—behind. But with her beautiful camera, Catherine possesses an object with the power to remember. For the rest of the war, Catherine bears witness to her own journey, and to the countless heroes whose courage and generosity saved the lives of many, including her own.Based on the author’s mother’s own experiences as a hidden child in France during World War II.Includes a map and photographs of the real Catherine and her wartime experiences, as well as an interview with author Julia Billet.
Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës
Isabel Greenberg - 2020
The story begins in 1825, with the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth, the eldest siblings. It is in response to this loss that the four remaining Brontë children set pen to paper and created the fictional world that became known as Glass Town. This world and its cast of characters would come to be the Brontës’ escape from the realities of their lives. Within Glass Town the siblings experienced love, friendship, war, triumph, and heartbreak. Through a combination of quotes from the stories originally penned by the Brontës, biographical information about them, and Greenberg's vivid comic book illustrations, readers will find themselves enraptured by this fascinating imaginary world.
Good Riddance: An Illustrated Memoir of Divorce
Cynthia L. Copeland - 2013
Until you read a lovesick e-mail to your husband . . . that didn’t come from you!Good Riddance is an honest and funny graphic memoir about suffering through and surviving divorce. Cynthia Copeland chronicles the deep pain, confusion, awkwardness, and breakthroughs she experiences in the “new normal” as a wife who’s been deceived, a mom who’s now single, a divorcée who’s dating, and a woman who’s on her own figuring out what she truly wants from her life. Copeland tells her story with an emotional candor and spot-on humor that makes Good Riddance poignant, painful, and hilarious all at once. Praise for Good Riddance: “Copeland’s light-hearted and comical artwork, reminiscent of Roz Chast’s, takes some of the sting out of her sorrows, allowing readers to nod in sympathy or chuckle at her missteps.” —Publishers Weekly "Even as she tells a story that is sometimes heartbreaking, Copeland has a way of making you laugh out loud. Full of insight about family, friendship, love, and resilience, Good Riddance is essential reading for anyone who has ever gone through a divorce." -- J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Maine and Commencement "Copeland takes us gently through a tough chronicle of divorce with wit, humor and more than a little hope." -- Phoebe Potts, author of Good Eggs "For anyone who's ever been dumped and had to start over, this charming book should be required reading. Grab a glass (ok, bottle) of wine and settle in. There's a light at the end of your tunnel and it starts with Good Riddance." -- Jill Smokler, New York Times bestselling author “Copeland has a charming art style . . . and because of her experience in the self-help/instructional publishing field, she brings a welcome specificity to the subject. Good Riddance isn’t a rant against cheating spouses; it’s more a step-by-step breakdown on how it feels to have a comfortable life upended overnight.” – The A.V. Club “I was struck by a page on which Copeland sends her youngest off for his first overnight in the home of T.J. and his new wife. The author-artist uses just a few words and images to convey an entire world of maternal despair. Copeland and other ‘graphic memoirists’ have me convinced that illustrated books—unlike Trix®—aren’t just for kids anymore.” —AARP.com“Works such as Copeland’s deserve your attention even if you aren’t married or divorced, because the human experience can be entertaining and moving.”—ComicMix
Little Josephine: Memory in Pieces
Valerie Villieu - 2020
When Valérie first met Josephine, she knew she would be embarking on a unique journey. Though vastly different in age, their connection was instantaneous. Humor quickly became their language, their playground, and despite the debilitating disease that Joséphine faced every single day, they were able to form a beautiful friendship that transcended the reaches of modern medicine.
Make Me a Woman
Vanessa Davis - 2010
No story is too painful to tell—like how much she enjoyed fat camp. Nor too off-limits—like her critique of R. Crumb. Nor too personal—like her stories of growing up Jewish in Florida. Using her sweet but biting wit, Davis effortlessly carves out a wholly original and refreshing niche in two well-worn territories: autobio comics and the Jewish identity.Davis draws strips from her daily diary, centering on her youth, mother, relationships with men, and eventually her longtime boyfriend. Her intimacy, self-deprecation, and candor have deservedly earned her many accolades and awards. Her deft comedic touch, lush color, and immediacy will set Davis apart not only as one of the premier cartoonists, but as one of the leading humorists for her generation, too.
Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons
Chuck Mullin - 2019
. . using pigeons.When Chuck Mullin began experiencing anxiety and depression as a teenager, she started drawing comics to help her make sense of the rollercoaster. Eventually, she found that pigeons—lovably quirky, yet universally reviled creatures—were the ideal subjects of a comic about mental illness. Organized in three sections—"Bad Times," "Relationships," and "Positivity"—and featuring several short essays about the author’s experiences, Bird Brain is a highly relatable, chuckle-inducing, and ultimately uplifting collection of comics for anyone who has struggled to maintain their mental health.
Cannonball
Kelsey Wroten - 2019
Wroten tells the story of an artist struggling with the arrival of adulthood and the Sisyphean task of artistic fulfillment. Stunningly drawn in a classic style, with big truths and biting wit, Wroten’s debut graphic novel is Art School Confidential for the Tumblr generation.
Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir
Kimiko Tobimatsu - 2020
In an instant, she became immersed in a new and complicated life of endless appointments, evaluations, and treatments, and difficult conversations with her partner and parents. Kimiko knew that this wasn't what being twenty-five was supposed to be like ... but then, she didn't have a choice.With tender illustrations by Keet Geniza, Kimiko Does Cancer is a graphic memoir that upends the traditional "cancer narrative" from a young woman's perspective, confronting issues such as dating while in menopause, navigating work and treatment, and talking to well-meaning friends, health care professionals, and other cancer survivors with viewpoints different from her own. Not one for pink ribbons or runs for the cure, Kimiko seeks connection within the cancer community while also critiquing the mainstream cancer experience.Honest and poignant, Kimiko Does Cancer is about finding one's own way out of a health crisis.
I Really Didn't Think This Through: Tales from My So-Called Adult Life
Beth Evans - 2018
The book is a wonderful mix of fun (playful meditations on the band Rush and international pen-pals) and thoughtful (Beth delves into her personal history with obsessive compulsive disorder and depression while commiserating on topics like dating and credit card shame) all with a simple candor that anyone from a teen to their grandparent can relate to. Through all of her experiences, Beth manages to extract valuable lessons, and the book is replete with friendly advice about caring for yourself, getting help no matter what your problems are, and embracing what makes you happy. Beth is a compelling storyteller, her drawings picking up where her words leave off, creating an approachable and immersive experience for the reader. Beth’s work feels like a hug from your best friend. And like a best friend, she’s here to say “You got this!”
Becoming Unbecoming
Una - 2015
Other kids are into punk or ska, but Una is learning to play "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings on the guitar, and she thinks it’s a really good song. There's another song, chanted on the terraces by Leeds United fans. It might not have made it on to Top of the Pops, but the boys all sing it on the walk home from school: "One Yorkshire Ripper . . . There’s only one Yorkshire Ripper . . . One Yorkshire Ri-pper . . ." A serial murderer is at large in West Yorkshire and the police—despite spending more than two million man-hours hunting the killer and interviewing the man himself no less than nine times—are struggling to solve the case. As this national news story unfolds around her, Una finds herself on the receiving end of a series of violent acts for which she feels she is to blame. Unbecoming explores gender violence, blame, shame, and social responsibility. Through image and text Una asks what it means to grow up in a culture where male violence goes unpunished and unquestioned. With the benefit of hindsight Una explores her experience, wonders if anything has really changed and challenges a global culture that demands that the victims of violence pay its cost.
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf
Grant Snider - 2020
We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. With a striking package including a die-cut cover, I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages.
Chlorine Gardens
Keiler Roberts - 2018
She doesn’t whistle past graveyards, but rather finds the punch line in the pitiful.KEILER ROBERTS is a Chicago-based artist whose autobiographical comic series Powdered Milk has received an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series and was included in The Best American Comics 2016. Her first book with Koyama Press, Sunburning, was published in 2017.