Hidden Gems: Memoirs

Zeina Abirached was born during the civil war in Lebanon. In this story, she describes how her neighbors sat with her and her brother while they waited for Zeina’s parents to return home from visiting her grandmother. With striking visuals, this is a unique addition that subtly shows the fraught situation of living in a warzone while also the community’s closeness. Readers who enjoy this should also check out Abirached's other memoir, I Remember Beirut.

Readers who enjoy quiet, subtle personal tales; readers who enjoyed the visuals of Persepolis

Megan Rupe

Robin has a good life in Korea; she is close to her mom, and she enjoys spending time with her friends as they explore their neighborhood and devour comics and television. When a vacation to Alabama turns into a permanent move, Robin finds herself cast into a world where everything is unfamiliar and she has very few allies and little support. This beautifully illustrated memoir is a bittersweet story about family, immigration, and personal growth.

Readers interested in immigrant stories, such as American Born Chinese and I Was Their American Dream

Megan Rupe

A sudden rare skin disease finds Vivian Chong abandoned by her friends in a hospital in a foreign country. Spreading scar tissue threatens her sight and hearing. Featuring art she made to document the changes in her life as she came to terms with the disabilities created by her condition, she rebuilds her life and brings her story to the stage.

Readers of Graphic Medicine and people interested in the drive of an artist.

Sunny Carito

The creator of the middle grade series Amelia Rules share the ups and downs, no matter how embarrassing, of going from being a basketball star at his private school to finding his niche making comics to sell to his classmates.

Fans of Raina Telgemeier, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the Berrybrook Middle School series.

Sunny Carito

Brian Michael Bendis is not a hidden creator, as one of the major writers for Marvel and DC over the past decade, but this memoir, of his early days as a young, ambitious cartoonist trying to sell his comic noir title Torso to Hollywood for adaptation, is not as well know. It's hilarious and telling about the particular weirdness of making anything happen in Hollywood. As a look at how insular and befuddling to outsiders the movie industry can be, it's a smart and slightly surreal ride through the comics-to-movies pipeline.

Anyone who's ever dreamed of writing that great screenplay and pounding the pavement to get it made, as well as anyone who is curious about how the industry of movie-making can work (or not work, as the case may be.) This title will also appeal to anyone who enjoys entertaining memoirs with snappy dialog and a great sense of timing.

The audience is clearly adults, and there is some language, but nothing too explicit.

Robin Brenner

In this memoir, Maia describes eir journey of figuring out eir identity as nonbinary and asexual. From crushes to physical presentation, Maia covers it all in a warm, reflective style.

Readers looking for nonbinary and/or asexual creators; readers exploring their sexual or gender identity; readers interested in learning more about gender identity, but don't want to read a bunch of theory!

Sex scene; some nudity; dysphoria

Megan Rupe

In her own words: “There’s not a lot of writing out there on cancer and disability. Maybe because for those of us who are now cancer-free, the ongoing symptoms are after-effects (of surgery, radiation, meds), not the result of disease still being present. Or maybe it’s because the mainstream cancer narrative is about overcoming adversity, not about experiencing ongoing disability” (92).

Highly relatable to any one who has looked cancer in the face as a participant or an observer. Delves into issues not usually discussed but are very relevant and relatable.

LGBTQ
Cancer Patients
Graphic Medicine
Older teens
Adults

Gail de Vos

Rachel Lindsay works for a pharmaceutical advertising company in order to have insurance to treat her bipolar disorder. When she is assigned to an account for antidepressants, her dual life as patient and employee weighs on her until ultimately she is committed. Lindsay’s gripping artwork and narrative are electrifying and often humorous, and her experience as an advertiser and patient makes for a unique perspective into mental illness and its related systems.

Fans of graphic medicine; readers who enjoyed Marbles; readers who are looking for a memoir that goes outside the usual discussions of mental health

Portrayal of descent into madness; language; some nudity;

Megan Rupe

In My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, Nagata Kabi tells the story of her struggles with depression, sexuality, and intimacy. In an attempt to make progress and prove herself, she arranges a meeting with a sex worker. With evocative illustrations and candid discussion, this is a read that will get you thinking about intimacy, social expectations, all those things that make life confusing, hard, and wonderful!

Readers who enjoy this should also check out My Solo Exchange Diary, which continues Nagata's story.

Millennials and others who are asking themselves similar questions; fans of memoirs that frankly discuss mental health like Marbles and RX.

Mental illness, sex, nudity, and disordered eating are all frankly portrayed

Megan Rupe

This memoir follows a transgender artist through her life as she sees herself. She doesn't like to draw herself so she introduces the reader to Anjali, a cisgender Bengali American woman in place of a self portrait. She quits her stable job in order to write a graphic novel and we follow her through her creative process and self exploration.

Those interested in self-exploration, cultural identity, and the creative process.

Martha Boksenbaum

A hilarious look into the world of arranged marriages, from the perspective of a woman who is glad her marriage was arranged. She lets us into her every day life with comics about her path to marriage, expectations from her family, and what Americans think her life is like as a Muslim woman.

Fans of slice of life, memoir, and humorous comics.

Martha Boksenbaum

Nimona and Lumberjanes creator Noelle Stevenson tells their story of hitting success young, finding love, and figuring out how to live without crashing and burning. A mix of prose, comics, and images, this is a messy, lovely look at a life and the lessons learned so far.

Fans of Stevenson’s work; creators and others who are trying to figure themselves out.

Mental illness

Megan Rupe

A funny and honest self portrait of a woman getting to know herself. Rather than a "coming out story" this memoir is a chronicle of the different moments that make up an identity with the recognition that there isn't one coming out moment, but in many moments throughout one's life.

Fans of stories searching for identity and truth. Those who enjoy slice of life, memoir, and humor.

Martha Boksenbaum

During the Cultural Revolution, urban teenagers were sent to rural areas in order to work on the state farms. Emei Burell’s mother Yuan was one of those rusticated youth. Using a mix of artwork and photographs, Burrell takes the reader through her mother’s time on the farm and the struggle to achieve her personal goals after she returns home. This is a quiet story of strength and determination you won’t want to miss.

Readers interested in Chinese history; readers who enjoy historical biographies and memoirs such as Maus and They Called Us Enemy.

Megan Rupe