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
When we are young the world can seem magical and full of untold possibilities. It’s when we get older and more perceptive, if not wiser, that the magic can fade and reality becomes more apparent. This transition from childhood to adulthood is a rite of passage for all of us and a time that can define who we become as people.
Comet Clubis set in present day China, and follows the lives of Li Yu and his friend Yang Kuaikuai as they find themselves on that same precipice between childhood and adolescence. As their time in middle school nears an end they are at a crossroads. Li Yu, the troublemaker of the two, is stuck in the pair’s small mountain town while Yang Kuaikuai, the more studious one, is trying to decide if he will stay in town with his father or move to the ‘big city’ with his mother, who left him and his father when he was very young. With their time potentially running out, Li Yu wants to make the most of what time they do have and drags the more skeptical Yang Kuaikuai to the Comet Club, a group of students that discuss UFO sightings and the possibility of extraterrestrial life visiting their mountain town. The club is led by the handsome, charming, and very intelligent Qi Ming, who beat out Yang Kuaikuai for first place in their school’s math competition. For this reason and out of morbid curiosity, he agrees to hear the club members out and join. Soon strange lights in the mountains bring the club members out of their comfortable homes in the town and up in the harsh winter wilderness above. And it is in that bleak landscape that the kids shed their childlike naivete and see things for what they truly are. Comet Club is a coming of age story very similar to such hallmarks of the genre as Stand by Me, showcasing the bonds of childhood friendship that hold a group of characters together and the cracks that form as time and circumstance begin to take their effects on who those kids are developing into. Through the characters’ parental figures the reader is given insight into what shaped the characters into who they are and insight into the choices the characters are making to distance themselves from their parents and their expectations or to seek out and meet those expectations. Li Yu’s drunken father set no expectations whatsoever leading him to take things less seriously and become a class clown. Yang Kuaikuai’s mother leaving when he was so young creates a need to prove that he is good enough to be worthy of her withheld love. Qi Ming’s father is working overseas in Japan and sends him letters and gifts such as a telescope, encouraging him to literally and figuratively reach for the stars, while at the same time hiding a dark secret of his own that also will play into his son’s future. Creator Li Yang imbues the story with a realistic sense of angst, uncertainty, and youthful idealism. Her artwork lies somewhere between realism and fantastical which really drives home the story’s place in the transitional period between the main characters’ childhood perspectives and the burgeoning reality slowly descending upon them. Regardless of their circumstances or in what country the reader was born, the plotline is universally relatable making it a great read for teenagers going through many of the same things.
Comet Club By Yi Yang Fantagraphics, 2026 ISBN: 9798875002564
Company Age Rating: Teen
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Chinese, Character Representation: Chinese,
JieJie and her little brother DiDi live in a desert wasteland outside of a bustling metropolis known as Oasis City. Their mother works long, grueling hours in order to get her children admitted to the city. JieJie does her best to keep her little brother in good spirits and acts as sister, best friend, and mother. But this is no job for a child. Scavenging for water, enduring sandstorms, and trying to make nutritious meals from dry packets weigh heavily on JieJie. Things change when the children come across a scrapped AI robot in a junkyard. This new addition to the family is able to do pretty much everything their original mother can and the children begin to develop a familial love for her. Despite the story’s dark premise, it ends on a very hopeful note.
I do want to draw attention (pun intended) to the beautiful illustrations in this book. The character designs are minimal and delicate – the people in this story have a cartoonish, child-friendly design that is almost evocative of dolls or toys and I think the whole vibe endears them to the reader. The harsh environments and settings are realistically rendered, and Goujing makes excellent use of color and highlight to bring out the despair and hope in the story.
Oasis has a lot of potential for dark storytelling, but ultimately leaves these plot threads behind to favor a saccharine ending. I feel that there was a rich vein to mine about AI, environmentalism, the nature of work in capitalist societies (a very haunting connection is drawn between the children’s mother and the AI robot), and how all of those things have the potential to just slam together and what sort of disasters it might create.
But really, this book is not necessarily trying to speak to me personally. As the author states, the book was inspired by the “left-behind children” of China—children who live in rural areas while their parents seek work in cities. A happy ending is what we want to give these children who are so far away from their parents, and it’s easy to see that desire reflected in the story. The publisher describes it as “filled with equal parts hope and suspense,” and I am inclined to agree.
Oasis By Guojing Macmillan, 2025 ISBN: 9781250818386
Company Age Rating: 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Chinese, Character Representation: Chinese,
Typically, biographical works aren’t about the entirety of the subject’s life but rather the moments in that life that are most significant. For biographies involving artists, those significant moments are ones that define and shape that artist’s creative vision. An autobiographical work from an artist has the added benefit of the artist illustrating their own vision of how they see the world that may or may not come through in critical interpretations of their work. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei decided to literally illustrate his life story, with the illustrations provided by Italian cartoonist Gianluca Constantini, in the book Zodiac: A Graphic Memior.
Weiwei might not have the name recognition of Banksy or Pollock, but his contributions are wide-ranging. A well-known artist and activist in his native China, Weiwei’s artwork often speaks to China’s stances on human rights and democracy. He was the son of Chinese poet Ai Qing, whose own views led the Weiwei family to live in exile for nearly 16 years. Eventually making his way to America, Weiwei studied animation and became acquainted with Beat poet Allen Ginsburg. In 1993, he returned to China to take care of his ailing father where he continues to influence the art scene in China as well as demonstrating how art can be used as a method of protest.
The path Weiwei takes to tell the story of his life isn’t a straightforward progression through the various milestones. As the title of the book suggests, the book’s chapters are divided up according to the Chinese Zodiac, the animals of the Zodiac representing different personality aspects and, in this case, different moments in Weiwei’s life. Along with the Zodiac, Weiwei weaves in poetry, bits of Chinese folklore, and conversations with his young son that allow a unique reflection of Weiwei’s life and how he creates. Indeed, as much as Weiwei’s book is a biography, it’s also a manifesto as to how art, protest, and living intersect.
For a work that talks so much about the power of art, Constantini’s artwork offers a surprisingly minimalist style. The pages are largely white with black lines and very little color. However, the images drawn by Constantini are very realistic, even in the moments of the book that veer into folklore. This minimalist approach, however, does benefit when it’s Weiwei himself that tells his story. Weiwei’s face as rendered by Constantini shows lines etched in his face that Weiwei has truly earned by being a political prisoner and relying on his art as both an escape and a voice.
While the images of this book might not pop as much as other graphic novels, it does fit into the trend of biographies eschewing bright colors and dynamic angles. Rather, it tells Weiwei’s story without a lot of graphical distractions. This book would be a solid addition to any adult graphic novel collection, or even a biography section, but it also serves as a great discussion of how art influences society and vice versa.
Zodiac A Graphic Memoir By Ai Weiwei Art by Gianluca Constantini Ten Speed Press, 2024 ISBN: 9781984863003
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation: Chinese, Character Representation: Chinese,
In 1852, 400 Chinese laborers in transit to the Americas mutinied against the white ship captain profiting from their transportation. Terrorized by British forces and accused of piracy by British and American courts, the rebels briefly won freedom, but never saw justice. Pairing a short graphic novel with academic essays, The Cargo Rebellion: Those Who Chose Freedom surfaces a buried history of Chinese and South Asian labor exploitation that took place throughout the nineteenth-century colonial world.
Written by academics Jason Chang, Benjamin Barson, and Alexis Dudden and illustrated by Kim Inthavong, The Cargo Rebellion opens with a short comic narrating the historical development of the so-called “coolie trade” that saw Chinese and South Asian indentured laborers transported to the Americas under exploitative conditions that the authors characterize as human trafficking. The Robert Bowne mutiny is briefly recounted, as well as the subsequent international legal battle that pitted American and European systems of imperialism against Chinese efforts to combat trafficking.
The comic provides a clear overview of the political and economic context under which Asian unfree labor proliferated in the nineteenth century. Its text skews academic but is still accessible, elevated by Kim Inthavong’s emotive full-color art. The last pages connect the history of Asian American labor with the contemporary practices of transnational slavery and trafficking. The authors issue a call to action for readers to stand against a system of “racial capitalism” and work toward “a global ethics of de-objectification.”
Following the comic are three academic essays by Dudden, Chang, and Barson: a detailed discussion of the mutiny and its legal aftermath, best practices for teaching Asian indenture in the classroom, and a study of Afro-Asian culture in the United States through the lens of music history. The essays contain valuable information and ideas, but there seems to be a missed opportunity to use the comic format to bring some of this material to life—in particular, details of the mutiny and legal dispute might have added depth to the rebels’ narrative, and historiographical details would help explain why stories like the Robert Bowne mutiny are so hard to reconstruct.
A related pitfall of the essays is that they give the book a scholarly bent that makes it much less accessible to younger readers. High school students are unlikely to persist when they come to the denser academic text. Again, it feels like the graphic novel format is underused, specifically, its potential to draw in a larger audience.
Nevertheless, The Cargo Rebellion stands out as virtually the only publication by a non-academic press about nineteenth-century Asian labor trafficking. Its important subject matter makes this title a good fit for university libraries, as well as general adult nonfiction collections that emphasize Asian and Asian American history and social justice topics.
The Cargo Rebellion: Those Who Chose Freedom By Jason Chang, Benjamin Barson, Alexis Dudden Art by Kim Inthavong PM Press, 2023 ISBN: 9781629639642
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation: East Asian Character Representation: American, Chinese
In an age where computers can create comic panels that saturate the viewer’s eyeballs with color or render scenes that only existed within one’s imagination, a more simplistic art style can be seen as an artist doing the bare minimum of artwork. But that viewpoint completely ignores the story being told. One such example of a story buoyed by its minimalist artwork is Anthony Del Col and Fahmida Azim’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning book I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp.
This graphic novel tells the harrowing ordeal of Zumrat Dawut, a mother of three who is arrested and detained by the Chinese government simply for being Muslim. Tortured, beaten, and even sterilized, Dawut’s only recourse is to escape her captivity, and does so with the help of her husband. That escape, however, is hard earned, and readers will accompany Dawut throughout her harrowing time as a prisoner.
Perhaps most harrowing about this particular story is the fact that it’s true. The source material uses testimony Duwat herself gave to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Writer Del Col created a very clear character arc to Duwat’s story, beginning first by exposing her quiet life as a wife and mother before going into her nightmare. Readers are there for every beating, every degradation, every time her hope of someday leaving her cell is dashed. By the time Duwat is free, that freedom feels both well-earned and ephemeral, not sure that she is really safe until the final page is closed.
Azim’s artwork for this story is minimal, mostly in black and white, which makes sense, considering that Duwat is incarcerated. Life in prison is lacking in color and vibrance by design, so as to break a prisoner’s spirit. That lack of color eventually feels like a physical weight for the reader, who is forced to imagine what that experience is like for Duwat. Color only returns when Duwat, along with the reader, is assured of her freedom.
This novel is a great addition for librarians who want to show the capabilities of graphic novels to tell realistic, human stories. It doesn’t take place in space, or in medieval times, nor does it feature hyper-detailed human figures ready to leap off the page. It depicts the action without indulgence, shunning a color-saturated sheen for honest emotion. Patrons who love biographical works and the comic format, while able to appreciate a more serious tone in their stories, will find Duwat and her story worthy of triumphant cheers.
I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp By Anthony Del Col Art by Fahmida Azim Lev Gleason, 2023 ISBN: 9781988247960
Publisher Age Rating: 12 years and up NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) , Character Representation: Chinese, Muslim
When it comes to renowned texts within the Eastern literary canon, Journey to the West towers over its fellows, often being cited as one of the four great classical works of Chinese literature. There is something enduring about the story of Sun Wukong, a powerful monkey king turned Buddhist disciple that must use his immense strength, durability, and supernatural abilities to protect the monk Sanzang on his quest to obtain sacred texts, all the while facing many rigorous trials and demonic threats along the way.
For centuries, it has entertained and enlightened readers with its rich allegories, political commentary, and overall engaging, adventurous plot. It has also been the source of inspiration for countless plays, novels, movies, TV shows, comics, and manga, most notably Dragonball and Naruto. Here, as a visually captivating graphic novel, Chaiko’s The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey revitalizes the classic tale for an audience that, while most likely familiar with the fruits of its influence, have yet to witness this perilous, strange, yet somewhat comical journey.
While Sanzang technically holds the status of main character in the original story, the refocusing of Wukong as the central character makes the most narrative sense. He displays more character development than anyone in the cast, going from a prideful, violent instigator aiming to topple the Heavens themselves to a loyal protector and disciple of Sanzang capable of showing mercy. His frequent moments of mischief and playfulness make him quite endearing to the reader, playing into a multifaceted nature that can be intimidating yet also charismatic. Wukong is a classic trickster character, similar to Loki and Hermes from Norse and Greek myth respectively, though he is more likely to fight his way out of a situation than through wit or cleverness.
No matter how one chooses to adapt Journey to the West, the main draw and appeal will be its memorable characters and how the creator interprets them for the audience. Along with the chaotic Wukong and devout Sanzang, the other figures that guard the monk during the long trek are the disciples Zhu Bajie, a greedy pig-like being, and Sha Wujing, a quiet, though obedient river ogre. With these varying and certainly clashing personality types, it makes for some standout character moments that give readers an insight into the inner dynamics of the group. At times, there appears to be a familial aspect to how the characters interact with each other: Sanzang as the authority figure,
Wukong the responsible eldest, Bajie the antagonistic foil to Wukong, and Wujing as the peacemaker. Wukong and Bajie’s arguments play off as sibling rivalry at times, making for some hilarious banter and a great deal of tension. It gives another layer to their interactions, as well as establishing another humanizing connection to the reader. In the process of bringing the story into a new medium, Chaiko keeps these relationships intact and maintains the characters as incredibly faithful interpretations, which helps to capture the spirit of the primary text.
What really sets this adaptation apart is Chaiko’s masterful artwork, especially when it comes to ambiance. The art style has a rougher, more traditional appearance, which perfectly puts the reader in the mood for a mythic epic. There is a recurring focus given to grand, natural elements such as cascading waterfalls, lofty mountains, and immersive open landscapes. Chaiko’s use of watercolors gives them a simple, yet elegant appearance, making each part of the journey visually distinct. Color is what ultimately enhances the storytelling, especially in terms of setting and tone. When in the earthly realm, the colors are fairly muted.
Rarely does the reader see anything brighter than the light blue of the sky, or orange of the setting sun. The hues are more reserved and modest, contrasting the bright pinks, purples, and golds that are constantly seen in the heavenly realm or in the presence of divinity. It gives the perfect sense of otherworldliness and reverence to the home of the immortals, inferring that a certain sort of beauty is only attainable when reaching a higher plane. In terms of tone, Chaiko utilizes color to instill certain emotions in a scene. During battles with foes, the panels turn ominous with dark greys and blues, highlighting the intensity and dynamic posing of characters, whereas lighter colors follow more emotional or light-hearted moments. As a result, each scenario gets its desired effect, whether that be raised tensions as a fierce face-off in a dark sky rages on, or a cold feeling of sorrow during a parting of ways in a bright and bare snowy forest.
As to its status as an adaptation, Chaiko does an admirable job of adapting and condensing 100 chapters worth of material into a graphic novel accessible to a modern, international audience. If I were to have one gripe, it would be that the marketing and synopsis describes it as being the complete story of Sun Wukong, When really it does not follow his journey with Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha to its conclusion. The story ends quite suddenly after a climactic moment, only hinting at the rest of the journey they still must undergo. It was somewhat frustrating not to be able to see them to their journey’s end, but it did not bring down the story as a whole.
Though cutting off a bit short, the graphic novel still holds all the intrigue, charm, and feel of the original that has been drawing people in for centuries. If anything, it leaves readers with the chance to discover more of the story themselves, whether that is through consulting with the text or seeking out another adaptation. For those wanting a more complete graphic novel version, I would recommend checking out Adventures from China: Monkey King by Wei Dong Chen, which takes a similar abridged approach in the span of twenty volumes.
The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey will entertain readers partial to stories of mythic quests, legendary heroes, and beloved folk tales with a thrilling action element. Manga readers especially may be drawn to its art style, as well as through its ties to popular titles they may have already read. Due to its wonderful ability to balance drama, action, and humor with deeper themes and allegories, this title can be enjoyed by a wide age range, though publishers have given a specific recommended age of 13 and up. Librarians and educators looking for titles that may connect readers more easily to classical literature or see a high circulation of titles tied to myths and legends should consider purchasing this title.
The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey By Chaiko Tsai Magnetic Press, 2023 ISBN: 9781951719760
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Chinese, , Character Representation: Chinese, Buddhist ,
In this deceptively simple and colour-filled graphic novel, we are introduced to the author’s family history as seen through the eyes of five female members at fifteen. The book starts in 1908 with Weng Pixin’s great-grandmother Kuan in China. Her story is followed by the narratives of her grandmother Mei in 1947, her mother Bing in 1972, herself in 1998, and the imagined story of Pixin’s future daughter in 2032. The fact that we are shown, rather than are able to attend to their verbalizations, is an indication of the struggles this matrilineal family has, and continues to face, with silence as their paramount defense in all aspects of their lives. “She grew to quiet her voice, just so she could survive.”
While the stories are not completely based on her female family members due to the silence and lack of family stories, Pixin extrapolates the histories and uses her art to explore the concealed and stifled personal struggles that had traditionally been internalized, subdued, and hidden from others in her lineage. It is through her art and the telling of these stories that Pixin delves into the rationale behind the harrowing and negative relationship she had always had with her own mother. These stories are told in a series of vignettes, moving both forward and backwards in time, each exploring key and interrelated elements in the lives of the five characters. This arrangement effectively illuminates the inter-generational complexities of societal expectations, family dysfunction as well as successes, and reveals how they are transferred from one generation to another. The themes that resonate within these vignettes are the love of nature and animals, a sense of alienation from the adult world, the suppression of trauma, and the sanctuary of artistic expression to compensate for the silence that predominated each of their lives. The breaking of that silence and the understanding of the causes of the frustrations and anger that seems insurmountable is the valuable undertaking that Pixin and her imaginary daughter explore with the fragments of the family history that they can find. “I wonder also what it would be like to live in a world where you have no control over your life.”
Pixin’s illustrations, painted in bold and vibrant colours, are reminiscent of folk art, focusing primarily on domestic settings. Included in the panels are extreme close-ups, recurring images of crickets, and the daily chores of each of the teenagers within their time frames. The layout of the panels is not static, but, while fairly conventional, it is also reflective of an uncomplicated and straightforward narration that combines to engage the reader in unanticipated observation and mediation. This is not a book that should be read quickly, but savoured. The ambiguity of the stories being told adds to the appreciation of the book as a whole. The occasional full-page panels add to the awareness of this being a work of art and passion. The occasional dialogue offers additional snippets of information about each of the characters, their motivations, and their challenges, but it is not the driving force for this graphic novel. It is the images, and the silences within the panels and illustrations, that ultimately carry the story.
Recommended for high school library collections, public library collections, and collections on memoir, family histories, and Chinese creators and history.
Let’s Not Talk Anymore By Weng Pixin Drawn & Quarterly, 2021 ISBN: 9781770464629 Publisher Age Rating: 16 and up
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Chinese Character Representation: Chinese
Stone Fruit, the debut graphic novel by comics artist Lee Lai, is a heartfelt story about two young women navigating the end of a relationship and the tension points between biological and chosen family. Lai does a marvelous job adapting the structure of young adult coming-of-age stories to the tumultuous years of our twenties, when many of us are still working out what kind of adults we hope to become.
This book centers on Ray, a young woman who’s part-time caretaker to her rambunctious young niece Nessie, and Bron, Ray’s fiercely imaginative, mentally ill girlfriend. Ray and Bron have decided to forge a life together, but their fresh start is complicated by existing family ties. For Ray, family means a strained relationship with her sister, Nessie’s mom, who is wary of Bron’s mental illness and perhaps her trans identity. Bron has her own complicated family of origin: religious conservative parents who have never fully accepted her as a trans woman, but also a younger sister who feels like Bron left her behind. When Bron decides to leave Ray and return home to her parents, both women find themselves reevaluating their familial relationships, unearthing trauma but also testing for the possibility of connection.
Stone Fruit feels like a novel that has the potential to be someone’s favorite book, appearing at the right moment for a reader facing any of the challenges that animate Ray and Bron’s lives: mental illness, a strained relationship with a sibling, an unexpected breakup, a first taste of aunthood. Though Stone Fruit is a breakup story, its melancholy is tempered by moments of joy and insight. Lai has a particular talent for capturing the mundane: life-altering conversations in nondescript restaurants; awkward breakups that end with running out into the street in your underwear; bad babysitting sessions powered by episodes of Peppa Pig. The understated storytelling meant that it took me a while to feel immersed in the story, but once I found my footing, I was deeply moved by this sharply observed snapshot of the human experience.
Lai’s art is terrific and will please fans of traditional media, with fluid brushwork and dreamy blue gouache. Simple four-panel pages put the emphasis on characters and text; the artwork is accomplished but never gets in the way of the narrative. Lai’s one bold artistic choice is her depiction of Ray, Bron, and Nessie during their babysitting romps—the three become monsters with reptilian skin and wicked teeth, a witchy image of female power that serves as a symbol for the kind of female-centered family that Ray and Bron want to create.
Stone Fruit is a strong choice for adult comics collections. I’d particularly recommend it to new adult readers looking for a narrative that speaks to their experiences; however, older adult readers will find just as much to enjoy here. Those purchasing for a young adult audience should be aware of the inclusion of nudity and a brief sex scene.
This title also delivers welcome representation of queer, trans, and Chinese diaspora experiences, adding breadth and inclusivity to graphic novel collections that have historically tended to exclude marginalized voices. Lai is a new voice to look out for, and her debut is well worth picking up.
Stone Fruit By Lee Lai Fantagraphics, 2021 ISBN: 9781683964261
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation: Australian, Canadian, East Asian, Trans Character Representation: Chinese, Queer, Trans, Ambiguous Mental Illness
Everything is Beautiful and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection explores the identity, imagination, and struggle of cartoonist Yao Xiao. Baopu is a monthly, serialized comic published in Autostraddle, a online community dedicated to publishing independent, progressively feminist, queer media. Thus, Everything is Beautiful and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection allows us to enter the universe of a bisexual, Chinese-American emigrant woman, an identity not often, if ever, shown in popular media. The collection includes both never before seen comics and fan favorites.
Baopu is a Taoist word used to illuminate the importance of simplicity and the ideal of living in a simpler state. Xiao clearly exemplifies this ideal through her work. The artwork is understated and the writing is accessible. The use of simplicity in Xiao’s artwork conveys a feeling of intimacy. Every comic in this compilation seems like it could have easily come directly from Xiao’s diary. And, frankly, this makes her comics likeable. Regardless of your identity, Xiao’s artwork is relatable. Xiao portrays herself in pseudo-minimalist drawings throughout each comic. In fact, her line work is so uncomplicated that her character is often only identifiable by a triangular hat differentiating her from the characters around her. While some readers may find the lack of detailing in her work frustrating, others will find it endearing.
As for the actual writing in this collection, once again readers may find themselves divided. Some of Xiao’s writing, such as one comic highlighting her frustration to pick a—literal—box, may read as cliched and a bit saccharine. However, other comics, such as those highlighting her loneliness as an immigrant, are quite poignant. One notable comic, titled “Quiet Night Thoughts” illustrates a poem by famed 7th century Chinese poet Li Bia. Xiao beautifully applies a poem written during the Tang Dynasty to her experience as a Chinese-American in the 21st century.
Given the independent nature of this publication, no particular age group is ascribed to the book. However, this book will mostly likely be appreciated by teens and emerging adults. Another issue with the independent publishing of this book is availability. This title most likely will not be available to libraries unless purchased from the publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, or Amazon. And, ultimately, may not be worth the investment.
Everything is Beautiful and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection is a sweet, engaging book. However, for a comic collection, the book is short at 128 pages. The collection feels incomplete. As a reader, I found myself wanting more. Xiao is clearly a young, very promising comic artist. I would love to read a more comprehensive volume of work from her. While I cannot recommend that this particular book be added to your library’s graphic novel collection, I would highly recommend that prospective readers take a look at Xiao’s professional Instagram account (@yaoxiaoart) and published work on Autostraddle. Xiao is a competent artist and cartoonist. More is certainly to come.
Everything is Beautiful and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection By Yao Xiao ISBN: 9781524852450 Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: (16+)
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18), Adult (18+) Character Traits: Chinese American Bisexual, Queer Creator Highlights: Own Voices, BIPOC Creator, LGBTQIA+ Creator
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.
When we are young the world can seem magical and full of untold possibilities. It’s when we get older and more perceptive, if not wiser, that the magic can fade and reality becomes more apparent. This transition from childhood to adulthood is a rite of passage for all of us and a time that can define who we become as people. 
long, grueling hours in order to get her children admitted to the city. JieJie does her best to keep her little brother in good spirits and acts as sister, best friend, and mother. But this is no job for a child. Scavenging for water, enduring sandstorms, and trying to make nutritious meals from dry packets weigh heavily on JieJie. Things change when the children come across a scrapped AI robot in a junkyard. This new addition to the family is able to do pretty much everything their original mother can and the children begin to develop a familial love for her. Despite the story’s dark premise, it ends on a very hopeful note.
significant. For biographies involving artists, those significant moments are ones that define and shape that artist’s creative vision. An autobiographical work from an artist has the added benefit of the artist illustrating their own vision of how they see the world that may or may not come through in critical interpretations of their work. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei decided to literally illustrate his life story, with the illustrations provided by Italian cartoonist Gianluca Constantini, in the book Zodiac: A Graphic Memior.
In 1852, 400 Chinese laborers in transit to the Americas mutinied against the white ship captain profiting from their transportation. Terrorized by British forces and accused of piracy by British and American courts, the rebels briefly won freedom, but never saw justice. Pairing a short graphic novel with academic essays, 
In an age where computers can create comic panels that saturate the viewer’s eyeballs with color or render scenes that only existed within one’s imagination, a more simplistic art style can be seen as an artist doing the bare minimum of artwork. But that viewpoint completely ignores the story being told. One such example of a story buoyed by its minimalist artwork is Anthony Del Col and Fahmida Azim’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning book 
When it comes to renowned texts within the Eastern literary canon, Journey to the West towers over its fellows, often being cited as one of the four great classical works of Chinese literature. There is something enduring about the story of Sun Wukong, a powerful monkey king turned Buddhist disciple that must use his immense strength, durability, and supernatural abilities to protect the monk Sanzang on his quest to obtain sacred texts, all the while facing many rigorous trials and demonic threats along the way.
In this deceptively simple and colour-filled graphic novel, we are introduced to the author’s family history as seen through the eyes of five female members at fifteen. The book starts in 1908 with Weng Pixin’s great-grandmother Kuan in China. Her story is followed by the narratives of her grandmother Mei in 1947, her mother Bing in 1972, herself in 1998, and the imagined story of Pixin’s future daughter in 2032. The fact that we are shown, rather than are able to attend to their verbalizations, is an indication of the struggles this matrilineal family has, and continues to face, with silence as their paramount defense in all aspects of their lives. “She grew to quiet her voice, just so she could survive.”
Stone Fruit, the debut graphic novel by comics artist Lee Lai, is a heartfelt story about two young women navigating the end of a relationship and the tension points between biological and chosen family. Lai does a marvelous job adapting the structure of young adult coming-of-age stories to the tumultuous years of our twenties, when many of us are still working out what kind of adults we hope to become.
