In this sequel to Meems & Feefs: Ferrets from Planet Ferretonia, Meems & Feefs: The Council of Ferrets, Meems repairs the travel opal and opens a portal to return him and Feefs to Planet Ferretonia and brings Liza along for a visit. However, Meems and Feefs are in quite a bit of trouble due to creating and using banned technology and so must answer to the Council. Together, the three of them uncover more of the mysteries of the banned ancient technology of Ferretonia and Meems’ missing mentor…
Cooper’s world-building is incredibly detailed for a whimsical fantasy graphic novel series for children. The premise of a young girl meeting cute intelligent ferrets is a good one no matter what, but Cooper has developed a full society for her ferret characters as well as depthful lore that is revealed in parts throughout the story. Still, the premise is easy to follow as the human character Liza serves as the reader’s liaison to Meems and Feefs’ world.
Liza is more than just a projection of the reader though. The majority of the first Meems & Feefs book took place on Earth, and the reader was introduced to Liza’s life, and it seems like there is more to be revealed about Liza and her life back on Earth. Liza’s development takes a backseat to the ferrets and the revelations surrounding Ferretonia in this volume, so hopefully future volumes will explore her and some of the Earth characters a little bit more.
The art in Meems & Feefs is perfect for its charming and fantastical story. Cooper’s work is the epitome of a story made for the graphic novel format. Previously, Cooper worked as an Art Director for the animated web series Simon’s Cat, and that animation experience serves her well as a graphic novelist. Her dynamic panels pack a lot of movement into each page without being overwhelming. Her characters are expressive and unique – she is able to make each ferret individuals not only with physical design but with facial expressions as well. They are fully realized characters with their own emotions and motivations. There is one sequence in which Meems and the character Leeloo are trying to escape, and the reader can almost hear their banter instead of simply reading it due to the combination of Cooper’s panels and word bubble placements as well as the characters’ movements. Though the graphic novel format is perfect for the story, it almost feels like an animated series due to Cooper’s mastery of sequential art.
The publisher’s age rating for The Council of Ferrets is ages 10-12 and Grades 3-8. It definitely will appeal to that age range, but older teens and some adults who like a magical adventure with touches of whimsy and humor will enjoy Meems and Feefs’ adventures with Liza. The adventure is ongoing, so it is beneficial for readers to have read Ferrets from Planet Ferretonia before reading The Council of Ferrets, andhopefully their tale continues in future volumes. The Meems & Feefs books would make great additions to libraries with juvenile readers looking for a funny but intriguing fantasy series.
Meems and Feefs: The Council of Ferrets By Liz Cooper Andrews McMeel, 2025 ISBN: 9781524876715
Company Age Rating: Ages 10-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
Memoirs often capture memories frozen in time, yet over the years, these memories can become reshaped, remixed, and even distorted. After all, facts become scattered but the truth behind the experiences endures. In her introspective memoir Until We Meet Again, Lily Kim Qian wrestles with deeply ingrained truths as she recounts her earliest memories leading to the estranged relationship between her parents, setting her on a path to discovery and inner healing.
The story begins in a jumbled dream-like state as Lily, a daughter of Chinese Canadian immigrant parents, sorts through a mixture of forgotten and remembered childhood memories—baby pictures, birthday parties, walks on a frozen lake, sizzling fried eggs made by her PoPo—which abruptly shifts to a darkened room where she watches her mother in a deep slumber. The scene later segues into a two-page spread where a tidal wave sweeps into a bedroom, signifying violent verbal battles between her parents that rage like a relentless tsunami. Narrated in vignettes, each story illustrates a moment in time, highlighting intimate details as she grapples with the gradual decline of her mother spiraling into the throes of mental illness. Segmented into chapters labeled after family members and locales spanning from Toronto to Shanghai, the plot runs the gamut of turbulent family dynamics converging through time and place as Lily constructs shattered fragments of her childhood to forge a new identity. From affectionate moments of her mother giving her a bath and dining over a meal of fried rice to outbursts of anger erupting between her warring parents, she navigates the ebbs and flows of fractured relationships in search of meaning and stability.
Bold and vivid line streaks infused with flecks of color paint the emotional landscape of each story. A variety of layouts—dynamic double-page spreads, a collage of photos, full-page scenes of places and characters—showcases a compelling assortment of visual compositions and storytelling prowess. Most striking is how the artwork translates metaphors into concrete images, which ranges from Lily somersaulting through recursive panels to illustrate her constant displacement from one home to another to a tangled ball of yarn symbolizing the mass confusion in the triangular relationship with her parents.
A memoir that reveals episodes of inherited trauma encompassed by the stigma of mental illness in Asian cultures, this story unearths poignant experiences dredged up from private memories. Much like how the brain functions when bombarded by a barrage of memories, Lily’s stories, or rather her recollection of them, unravels through a kaleidoscopic series of fractured moments that form a complex mosaic. Until We Meet Again adds a deeply intimate voice to young adult collections, exploring the complex emotional landscape of dysfunctional family dynamics in a beautifully rendered visual memoir from an Asian Canadian perspective.
Until We Meet Again By Lily Kim Qian Macmillan First Second, 2026 ISBN: 9781250884237
Company Age Rating: 14-18
NFNT Age Recommendation: Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Canadian-American, Chinese, Depression Character Representation: Canadian-American, Chinese, Depression
Easily my worst trait. So, keep that in mind as you read this.
I didn’t need any more convincing to check out Saint Seiya: Dark Wing, it’s already Saint Seiya, it’s going to be great.
As an aging anime nerd, I watched the original DIC dub of Saint Seiya when it came to the United States… about 20 years after the original production concluded. The aesthetic is immediately recognizable as an anime from the mid to late eighties. I found it fascinating to watch as a kid, and I was so surprised that this franchise is actually still going. Maybe not in a regulated production kind of way, but every few years, something new contributing to the universe shows up, like the awful movie adaptation from 2023.
I say this to give the series some context; it is very difficult to summarize this universe because it is so long-lived. The most concise way I can put it is this: the Saints are 5 chosen ones – boys who wear sacred armor that are based on constellations, sworn to defend the earth from being taken over by competing gods.
It’s… a lot. And if you’re also into Greek and Roman mythology… uh, you’ll recognize a lot of names, but this series is not based on any of those stories, it is not a re-telling of those legends; it’s more along the lines of appropriation than anything else. Personally, I enjoy the surrealism of it all.
Set in high school, students’ fates are revealed as chosen ones, sworn enemies, divine figures, and all in the service of the battle of the gods. Our protagonist, Soichiro, goes on a school trip to the Mediterranean, but the ship is attacked and sinks into the sea as he tries to save his crush. But Soichiro is revived as one of the dreaded Judges of the Underworld, under the command of Hades. He is pitted against his twin brother, Sojiro, who is reincarnated as the Gold Saint of Gemini.
Dark Wing consists of 4 volumes in total. It is not-quite-linear, relies on dream logic, and honestly, I appreciate its updated setting of the modern world. The linework is clean and detail-oriented when it is called for—these pages have some very elaborate backgrounds when the backgrounds actually show up. It is delightfully nostalgic to look at; fans of the old Gundam Wing manga will recognize these 90s pattern and texture overlays. And maybe the best part of it all is the re-working of popular 80s design elements into a more modern aesthetic (those feathered up-do’s, I mean…).
I do want to be clear: I loved this next installment of the series, but I am fairly certain that a newcomer to this franchise is not going to know what’s going on if this is the first Saint Seiya book they pick up. It’s a good read if you’re willing to just let the story happen, wash over you as the reader. The mythic themes of destiny and fate and rising to challenges never get old for me.
It pains me to say it, but I don’t think this spin-off makes for a great addition to your library collection. If you can link it to some of the more foundational works in the franchise, I think that would be best. But, on its own, even with all four volumes, I’m not sure this is the way to go.
Saint Seiya: Dark Wing Vol. 1 By Masami Kurumada and Kenji Saito Art by Shinshu Ueda Titan, 2025 ISBN: 9781787747180
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Japanese, Character Representation: Japanese,
Victor is a necromancer, with magic in his blood that lets him cast spells. If anyone finds out, he would be put to death: necromancy is illegal and fanatically persecuted by the religious order that polices the city. And it’s not easy to hide, given that every transaction–from buying a snack to getting married – requires a blood signature, and necromancer blood visibly glows with magic. So Victor keeps to the shadows, solitary except for his cute one-eyed cat, just trying to survive.
Then wealthy young banking heir Enrique makes him an offer: use magic to resurrect his dead bride, and Enrique will use his vast resources to smuggle Victor out of the city to a place where necromancy isn’t illegal, where he can live a normal life. Victor reluctantly agrees, though he isn’t familiar with the spell Enrique instructs him to use. And neither of them expects the result: Enrique’s bride, Mercedes, is resurrected, but her life is bound to Victor’s. If they get too far apart, she’ll die. She has also come back a little… different. For one thing, she has no memories. For another, her beautiful body is now crisscrossed with stitches–and extremely strong. And then there’s the awkward fact that she’s extremely drawn to Victor. Is it just because of the spell, or something more?
Even if Mercedes doesn’t remember him, Enrique isn’t ready to give up on her. And if she can’t be separated from Victor, well, the three of them will just have to stay together. Which might just lead to more romance than any of them was expecting.
Love Me to Death started as a popular Webtoon, inspired by Frankenstein and influenced by Disney films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It also reflects the creators’ love for Mexican culture, especially in its lush visuals, which often call to mind Day of the Dead celebrations.
The story revels in cute, often silly romantic tropes. Oops, Mercedes saw Victor shirtless, and he’s hot! Oh no, they tripped and fell on top of each other! People keep mistaking them for a couple! Blushing abounds! There are serious elements to the plot – it’s dangerous to even associate with a necromancer, let alone be one, and also Mercedes is starting to wonder if she might have been murdered. Sometimes the romance, too, is more serious: Victor has major emotional scars, Mercedes is confused and scared by her new situation, and both have trouble believing that someone could want them when most people would consider them monsters. But there’s also lots of humor and sweet moments. There are a few hints in the direction of the three main characters ending up in a polyamorous relationship, but that’s as far as it goes in this volume, though the author’s note at the end confirms that that’s where things are going.
The artwork is colorful and expressive, full of pretty settings and even prettier people. Victor and Enrique are both cute while being very different types, and Mercedes looks like an attractive woman in a very effective “sexy Frankenstein” Halloween costume. (During a costume party, another character basically assumes that’s what she is.) There are a few manga-esque elements, like roses appearing around Enrique when he smiles and characters looking chibi sometimes in funny moments. We see elegant architecture, fun outfits, colorful festival décor, and lots of sparkly magic. This volume also contains a bonus short story about Victor’s past, which is mostly text with just a few illustrations.
Love Me to Death combines an interesting fantasy setting, sympathetic characters, and hefty doses of both angst and humor. Hand it to fans of shojo manga and fantasy romance.
Love Me to Death By Toonimated Little, Brown, 2026 ISBN: 9780316587198
Company Age Rating: 14+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Lindsey Cheng is like most college freshmen, trying to find herself even as everyone is trying to tell her who she should be. This includes everyone from her overbearing and very traditional Chinese mother to her best friends and bandmates. It seems like everyone has an opinion on who Lindsey should be and where her attention should be focused, be it the band or her studies.
The sole exception to this is Jason—the super-chill lead-singer of a different band, who stuns Lindsey by calling her his girlfriend as he tries to give her a gift while shopping for old records. This stuns Lindsey, who barely started dating Jason and never had a boyfriend before. This makes her anxious to be everything a good girlfriend should be. More, she wants to be cool enough to be the girlfriend of a cool guy like Jason. But is Jason really the best thing to ever happen to her? Or is she just stunned at the idea of any boy being interested in her after a sheltered childhood?
The early press for Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy described it as “perfect for fans of Bryan Lee O’Malley and Mariko Tamaki.” I can see why it might draw comparison to the Scott Pilgrim series. It is based around young adults and indie band culture in the early 21st century and Asia Miller’s art shares a certain aesthetic. The general plot even emulates the lessons of that comic, albeit through the female lens. However, it dramatically oversimplifies the story to write Lindsey Cheng off as an older Knives Chau, who has the good sense to realize that Jason is scum before it is too late.
What really sets this comic apart—and indeed inspires the need for a sequel—is the final chapter. This is told from the perspective of Lindsey’s friend and bandmate Mel; a fierce romantic who loves love. It is she who first gets an inkling of who Jason really is but puts on a false face because she wants to support her friend. At the same time, Mel copes with her growing attraction to their third bandmate, V, and the hint that V (who loves video games and hates boys) might return her feelings.
The opening of the book focused on Lindsey does deliver an important message upon the dangers of repressing yourself for the sake of a relationship. And yet, the chapter with Mel is the strongest and feels the most genuine. Personally, I’d love to read a comic about the awkward romance between tomboy V and girly girl Mel as a follow-up to Lindsey’s hard lessons regarding her first love.
There’s no official publisher rating for Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! I would personally consider it appropriate for most teen audiences and indeed perfectly suited for that audience given the ultimate moral of the story. There is no sex or even so much of a mention of it. The closest we get is Lindsey taking off her T-shirt to reveal her bra while hanging out with Jason while lounging on his bed. There’s no violence or nudity and no language worse than what might be heard on broadcast cable.
Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! By Asia Miller Andrews McMeel, 2026 ISBN: 9798881605827
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Chinese-American, Queer, Character Representation: Chinese-American, Bisexual,
Tripping Over You, Volume 2, from Suzana Harcum and Owena White, picks up not long after the first graphic left off, showing unlikely couple Liam and Milo navigating their maturing relationship. This slice of life romantic comic was adapted from real life couple Harcum and White’s webtoon in February and promises more volumes to come. Fresh out of high school, the pair are growing into young adults and trying to allow their relationship to grow with them. Liam and Milo are in a very interesting phase, kind of semi-out to their families (who bring their own baggage into their relationship) and striving to make room for each other as their lives grow fuller. Liam doesn’t know what he wants out of his future and Milo seems plagued with self doubt, but they keep circling back to find comfort in each other. This volume catches our couple at a very real, very vulnerable time where a high school relationship can evolve into an adult one or where it can flounder under the weight of growing up.
This is a sweet story that young readers can easily connect with. The art is incredibly cute with Harcum and White using a style that hits me as a kind of Disneyified Manga: characters with big eyes and bold lines in a world of saturated color. It is very easy to read and honestly just pretty. Liam and Milo give classic black cat/golden retriever energy and seem hyper aware of the struggles that can come with relationships where people have different needs and communication styles. While this comic does show a growing young adult relationship and the intimacy that comes with it, there’s nothing explicit on page or even suggested and I would probably recommend it as young as 6th or 7th grade, depending on the reader. There are a couple of shirtless scenes and implied sex and Liam still hasn’t kicked his smoking habit from book one. But with that, their relationship maintains an innocence that will keep it accessible to a wide range of readers.
The plot beats were a bit of a hang up to me. The small domestic moments of our couple meeting new people, fighting to find time together, struggling with demanding families, and eventually moving in together feel almost like filler, like all of these moments are leading towards conflict in a future volume. The most striking of these involve Milo’s new friend Hebert, an American theater student. There isn’t immediate conflict but there is definitely unresolved tension and Hebert’s motives are questionable at best. Many of the plot points feel unresolved. Liam still does not have a clear career path and Milo still seems uncertain in aspects of their relationship. All of these things made this feel less like a step in their story and more like laying groundwork for the next book.
But honestly, I don’t know if I care. It was still a lovely read. The characters are ones you want to spend time with and their relationship is easy to invest in. It’s sweet and loving and a ready made next read for my Heartstopper fans. Parts of it do come off as wish fulfillment, particularly the moment where Liam comes out to his father. But queer kids deserve as much wish fulfillment as they can get. I can’t help but worry that these boys will have a tough time ahead of them, but my fingers are crossed for a happy ending.
Tripping Over You, Volume 2 By Suzana Harcum Macmillan First Second, 2026 ISBN: 9781250330734
Company Age Rating: 14-18
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Lesbian, , Character Representation: Queer, Jewish ,
But I’m going to try, because the book deserves it.
Pastimes is a collection of four-panel vignettes by Saguenay-born Pascal Girard about his life as a 40-something man with a family. STICK WITH ME HERE!
The humor is bone-dry, the emotional points land with humor, and the other material… well, if you’re a fan of the works of Larry David, you’re in for a treat. Much of these comics come from Pascal’s every day life as a social worker for a hospital and the family he has at home and, subsequently, he experiences many baffling social interactions that result in confusion, frustration, or uneasiness (or a combination of all three). He’ll say the inside thoughts out loud and face the consequences. Not in a way that’s noble, but in a way that reminds us that our actions have consequences.
Pascal clearly loves his wife Rebecca and five-year-old daughter Lucie, and even though the strips don’t suggest much struggle past what could be expected in parenthood, the comics do a good job of showing that these struggles still exist. His little girl is obsessed with dying, a subject that gives both her and her father anxiety; it’s often a gateway into a larger subject—of the author losing his younger brother when he was also five-years old. Pascal is getting older; he has to put more of an effort in staying in shape, making healthy choices for himself, and going out to those loud, crowded, dive-y venues for the punk and hardcore music he tends to favor late at night is getting more difficult these days (though he doesn’t give it up, even sharing certain aspects of it with his daughter).
The strips don’t dabble in mature themes like sex, but death, recreational drug use, aging, and uncomfortable social interaction are explored. Not every page is a winner, but there are definitely a number of belly-laughs for me.
I would first describe the book as “cozy.” No Flying No Tights has reviewed literally thousands of comics that are visually complicated and layered and colorful and perhaps epic works of art and Pastimes… is not any of that. Nor does it need to be. The drawings are simple outlines, there is no color, but the characters are still expressive and the visual components of the punchlines land.
I find the book incredibly endearing. It’s not a deep exploration of things that we might think of as we age – perhaps sacrificed for the sake of humor—but it does suggest that there is more going on. Pastimes is deeper than just 4 panels of funny drawings. It’s a light in a dark hallway. And not just because I am also an aging punk rock adult who sees themself in Pascal’s work and therefore established a deep empathetic connection to his life with the first comic and see it as some sort of signal that everything is going to be okay.
Probably.
Maybe.
But the only way to find out is to pick this one up and read it yourself!
Pastimes By Pascal Girard Pow Pow Press, 2025 ISBN: 9782925114543
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Canadian, Character Representation: Canadian,
Aisling is a princess about to turn eighteen, but a week before her big debut, she is kidnapped by Forget-Me-Not, who plans to get revenge for being replaced at birth by a changeling. Aisling is that changeling, although she had no idea of her fae heritage and neither did her parents because they don’t recognize her without the glamour she’s been wearing. As they travel through the fae lands, both Aisling and Forget-Me-Not discover they have more in common than they originally thought and start developing a relationship. We learn more about the fae lands through Aisling’s interactions (and almost disasters) and Forget-Me-Not’s backstory about growing up in an alien world that isn’t hospitable to humans. The story wraps up at the end of this volume and provides an epilogue to tie up all the loose ends of the relationship between our two main characters.
The saturated colors worked well with the fantastical setting, and I personally liked how the lighting was used to convey emotions and ambiance throughout the story. This is a standalone as opposed to the start of a series, which makes it a great choice for teen or adult readers looking for a one-and-done LGBTQ+ (specifically sapphic) fantasy romance. There is on-page kissing between two female characters (one that has a masculine look) but no sexual content. I would highly recommend this book for any public library and high school library looking to follow the romantasy trend with LGBTQ+ content. Your patrons will thank you for it.
Forgive-Me-Not By Mari Costa Macmillan First Second, 2026 ISBN: 9781250784179
Company Age Rating: 14-18
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Brazilian, Portuguese, Character Representation: Lesbian,
Once upon a time in ye olde 2013, in the very blue state of Illinois, Chicago Public School (CPS) officials banned the use of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis in the entire district. 13 years later this feels disgustingly common, a story we’ve learned to tune out, but at the time it shocked the local community and the response was immediate. High school students led a protest, teachers and librarians were up in arms, free speech advocates were taking notice, and it was picked up by news outlets. But information coming from the school district was confusing and inconsistent and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests produced little information or clarity.
Roughly two years later, library graduate student Jarret Dapier, remembering his frustration with the ban and lack of answers, decided to dig deeper for a thesis paper. He interviewed former and current students, teachers, librarians, administrators, and journalists. With little hope of success he sent in his own FOIA request to CPS and was surprised with 42 pages of emails and all the answers he could ask for about the ban and who in the school district was responsible.
Wake Now in the Fire is Dapier’s debut graphic novel and a mingling of those true events with mostly fictional characters based on the students and teachers he interviewed. He follows several high school students (and a few teachers) as they discover the ban and take action. His diverse characters have varied and realistic lives, dealing with all the ups and downs of being a teenager. They struggle with homework, strict parents, and awkward crushes, but also grief, uncertainty, and mental health issues. I really loved that Dapier gave his student characters space to speak and share and develop their, sometimes messy, thoughts in and outside the classroom.
AJ Dungo illustrates Dapier’s narrative with a distinctive and fun graphical style. His clean lines and grayscale color palette are more than able to handle the relatively large cast of characters and complex situations. One detail that I really enjoyed was the use of red only when the book Persepolis is in view in a panel. It’s a nice pop of color that highlights the book’s presence in the lives of the characters.
It feels easy these days to get crushed emotionally by the routine threat of book bans, and I worried a graphic novel focused on it would really bring me down, but Wake Now in the Fire is largely positive. The students are fired up to stand up for their rights to read. The parents, teachers, and librarians are largely supportive. There is visible power in a community that rises against censorship. In his afterword, Dapier draws attention to how things have changed since 2013 with regards to the massive increases in book bans, growing control over marginalized bodies, and the escalating danger of armed government agents. Those comments snapped me back to reality after bathing in some good old fashioned hope during the narrative, but it’s important that our current reality is acknowledged.
The publisher rates this story for ages 14+, which are the ages of the main student characters. There aren’t too many things that would make this difficult for readers under 14, but some issues to be aware of are brief off-screen violence, depictions of mental health struggles in kids and adults, and alcoholism in one of the parents. That parent experiences an on-screen health emergency that his daughter has to respond to in an intense scene. The most stressful parts of the students’ lives are handled well and with grace. This book is a vital addition to a teen, or even an adult collection because it merges history and fiction to tell a compelling story with that crucial element of hope that is so desperately needed right now.
Wake Now in the Fire: A Story of Censorship, Action, Love, and Hope By Jarrett Dapier Art by AJ Dungo Ten Speed Press, 2026 ISBN: 9780593838044
Company Age Rating: 14+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales is a wildly successful series of historical stories told in graphic format. He’s also written short stories with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
The story is framed by his original narrators and characters from history—Nathan Hale, the hangman, the British provost, and, added in Major Impossible, Bill Richmond. Hale starts the story with his narrators peering at a sketch of the front cover, with the historical Nathan Hale explaining that “this book was created by hand by a real human artist.” There’s a humorous warning at the beginning about the scary content, then the framing plot opens.
The four narrators are sheltering from the rain under the gallows and decide to tell scary stories, starting with Captain Hale. Since it’s his thirteenth tale, he tells a scary story about a thirteen baby—the Jersey Devil. Black and white art, picked out with spots of green, illustrates the gruesome creature and its victims, ending with a short discussion on folklore and history. The provost demands a true story, so Hale begins “A Sip of Radiation” and the backgrounds glow a ghostly green as he tells the true story of Radithor, radium-infused water. The story jumps between Curie’s discovery of radium and the effects of Radithor on a welathy young man, Eben Byers, who died a gruesome death due to the “miracle cure” and ends with the radium girls and a creepy correlation between overuse of radium and the possible effects of unlimited internet use. The stories continue with the ghostly “The Demon Cat,” a grotesque tale from Edgar Allan Poe, “Hop-Frog,” and more. They include snapshots of US history, like a dream of Abraham Lincoln, a ghost story from the Civil War, and, of course, reappearances of the Jersey Devil.
Bill Richmond’s contribution, “The Boo Hag” is framed in a slightly darker green and features a cast of Black characters with creepy fleshless monsters, and placid, swirling waters in the South Carolina Sea Islands that hide dark secrets. Hale switches to a sharper contrast in “The Head in the Jar” which features the folk legend of Joaquin Murrieta. Stark white backgrounds on the small panels show the bare desert of the stockades and Gold Rush towns then switch to a mass of grays as Murrieta suffers and reenacts his vengeance in the dark of night.
The story ends with a transition that takes the readers to Denmark and introduces the berserkers of the title. Hale’s characters in this tale show sharply defined faces with pointed, craggy noses and long-haired, narrow faces contrasting with bulky, bearded warriors and fleshy tyrants. The story comes to a gory and dark end, featuring monstrous beasts and dense, packed panels showing heroes battling creatures in the dark. The stories return to the US and the true crime story of “The Butler Goes Berserk” featuring the mysterious crimes at Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate, Taliesin, committed by his butler, Julian Carlton. The collection is finished with a goofy story from the hangman, framed in glowing green and a final appearance of the Jersey Devil.
Hale ends the book with his usual meticulous research; in this case he adds additional information to the sources explaining which parts of each story are factual and which are folklore or legends. He also includes an encouragement for readers to explore short stories and some recommendations and sources.
This is a fitting transition to twelve wonderful historical graphic novels and hopefully marks the beginning of a new set of these histories. It’s also a fun way to get readers to try something new as well as stop to think a little more deeply about the media and stories they consume, since Hale includes lots of discussion points throughout the story as well as plenty of gore, monsters, and creepy happenings. A sure bet for middle school readers and anyone who enjoys creepy stories and interesting historical tidbits, this will delight both old fans of Hale and those new to his work.
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Bones and Berserkers By Nathan Hale Abrams, 2025 ISBN: 9781419773204
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
In this sequel to Meems & Feefs: Ferrets from Planet Ferretonia, Meems & Feefs: The Council of Ferrets, Meems repairs the travel opal and opens a portal to return him and Feefs to Planet Ferretonia and brings Liza along for a visit. However, Meems and Feefs are in quite a bit of trouble due to creating and using banned technology and so must answer to the Council. Together, the three of them uncover more of the mysteries of the banned ancient technology of Ferretonia and Meems’ missing mentor…
Memoirs often capture memories frozen in time, yet over the years, these memories can become reshaped, remixed, and even distorted. After all, facts become scattered but the truth behind the experiences endures. In her introspective memoir Until We Meet Again, Lily Kim Qian wrestles with deeply ingrained truths as she recounts her earliest memories leading to the estranged relationship between her parents, setting her on a path to discovery and inner healing.
Victor is a necromancer, with magic in his blood that lets him cast spells. If anyone finds out, he would be put to death: necromancy is illegal and fanatically persecuted by the religious order that polices the city. And it’s not easy to hide, given that every transaction–from buying a snack to getting married – requires a blood signature, and necromancer blood visibly glows with magic. So Victor keeps to the shadows, solitary except for his cute one-eyed cat, just trying to survive.
to tell her who she should be. This includes everyone from her overbearing and very traditional Chinese mother to her best friends and bandmates. It seems like everyone has an opinion on who Lindsey should be and where her attention should be focused, be it the band or her studies.
couple Liam and Milo navigating their maturing relationship. This slice of life romantic comic was adapted from real life couple Harcum and White’s webtoon in February and promises more volumes to come. Fresh out of high school, the pair are growing into young adults and trying to allow their relationship to grow with them. Liam and Milo are in a very interesting phase, kind of semi-out to their families (who bring their own baggage into their relationship) and striving to make room for each other as their lives grow fuller. Liam doesn’t know what he wants out of his future and Milo seems plagued with self doubt, but they keep circling back to find comfort in each other. This volume catches our couple at a very real, very vulnerable time where a high school relationship can evolve into an adult one or where it can flounder under the weight of growing up.
revenge for being replaced at birth by a changeling. Aisling is that changeling, although she had no idea of her fae heritage and neither did her parents because they don’t recognize her without the glamour she’s been wearing. As they travel through the fae lands, both Aisling and Forget-Me-Not discover they have more in common than they originally thought and start developing a relationship. We learn more about the fae lands through Aisling’s interactions (and almost disasters) and Forget-Me-Not’s backstory about growing up in an alien world that isn’t hospitable to humans. The story wraps up at the end of this volume and provides an epilogue to tie up all the loose ends of the relationship between our two main characters.
Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis in the entire district. 13 years later this feels disgustingly common, a story we’ve learned to tune out, but at the time it shocked the local community and the response was immediate. High school students led a protest, teachers and librarians were up in arms, free speech advocates were taking notice, and it was picked up by news outlets. But information coming from the school district was confusing and inconsistent and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests produced little information or clarity.
with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
