In The Last Time We Spoke, the author opens with an encounter. A woman on the train resembles his mother so much that he starts to believe it is her – except that his mother cannot be there. She died when he was 14, and when she was just 49. This is the power of grief – the way memories of a lost loved one can strike at any time and be strong enough to envision them there.
Mechanic describes the time before his mother’s death as a time filled with doctors and experimental treatments – something he says was like “flailing while standing still, screaming on mute.” But there are times of joy amid the hardest times, too. The author chases geckos with his sister while in the Bahamas- looking for all the world like a family on vacation when really they are there for another special treatment. Soon the moment is shattered, though, as his father breaks the news that there are no treatments left to do and the family has to come to terms with impending loss. As the book moves back and forth in time, it touches on the anticipatory grief of watching cancer consume his mother before returning to a present day marked by her absence. In between, in the aftermath of his mother’s death, the author also receives a diagnosis of ADHD and OCD.
Structured unlike a typical graphic novel, the words and images blend here. Sometimes, the font is large, and images make their way inside of it. Other times, the images stand up next to a block of text to complement it.
While the ground covered isn’t necessarily new ground in the discussion of grief or mental illness, Mechanic’s experience is both his own and relatable. Readers who have experienced the death of a parent or loved one will recognize themselves in his journey, and in statements like “it doesn’t take long to realize all you took for granted.” This book may be for you if you gravitate to adult graphic novel memoirs like Tyler Feder’s Dancing At The Pity Party or It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood.
The Last Time We Spoke Vol. By Jesse Mechanic Street Noise Books, 2025 ISBN: 9781951491420
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
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
In fact, it took me a very long time to gather my thoughts to write this review for the book, and I’m still not convinced that I have come up with a cohesive whole here, but here we go.
Our protagonist is Jenny, but even giving her the title of “protagonist” is a bit generous. I tend to think of protagonists as very active in their respective narratives, but the way this story was constructed makes me feel like she’s more of a canvas on which this surreal narrative is projected. Which, according to the product description, is intentional and it definitely contributes to the overall negative tone of the book.
The surreal aspects are definitely something I appreciate about the narrative, but the story overall is rough. The plot is a string of loosely connected stories that, for me, boil down to a laundry list of traumas and disasters. And, for me, it’s very hard to get through. I’ll let the publisher explain it:
A coworker-turned-prospective-lover confesses a hard-to-swallow fetish. A train ride fantastically goes off the rails as old habits get dragged across the tracks. Cousins revisit summer holiday bliss—or was it really horror? Exes fumble an attempt to reconnect over a dip in the pool on a squelching summer day. And an expectant mother slips into an unusual place as she embarks on a communion with her baby more pure than language can accommodate.
There are several adult themes featured in the narrative including sexual fetishes, (child) death (but also: childbirth), religious trauma, child sexual abuse, and vehicle collision/accident.
The narrative’s final page offers the reader one small sliver of hope—a newborn baby, a chance to protect a new life from what plagued Jenny.
For me personally, I was not able to catch the optimism that I think was supposed to be projected here. There simply isn’t enough in the overall story to suggest that change is possible.
The artwork is interesting when it breaks from reality and introduces seemingly unrelated imagery that freely flows through the narrative. It’s otherwise difficult to criticize because it’s not particularly notable in either direction. The scratchy pencils are perfectly competent and they are technical in showing plane changes, but the overall look is not distinct and I actually had a little trouble identifying different characters. I always appreciate a muted and largely monotone color pallet, however.
This might be the first book I don’t feel comfortable recommending, not even in very specific circumstances. I think there is value in these sorts of memoirs, and they are unfortunately relatable to many readers, but I think there is better on offer. Please see Tsunami by Ned Wenlock, Epileptic by David B., Precious Rubbish by Kayla E., or even the tried-and-true classic, Maus by Art Spiegelman.
I Ate the Whole World to Find You By Rachel Ang Drawn and Quarterly, 2025 ISBN: 9781770467583
Publisher Age Recommendation: N/A, but I will note that Drawn and Quarterly has a Kids section on their website and this title is not listed there
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Australian, Character Representation: Australian,
Growing up is hard. Changes are hard. Especially in the middle grades, right before high school. I can’t imagine how much harder it must be now, with the internet, smart phones and social media. Even without any of that, I remember how awkward and unsure I was.
Charisse must be about my age and have grown up in the 70s. The clothing, references, and houses look very 70s. (The boom box and “Shake your booty” on page 236 gave it away.) Maybe that’s why she reminds me of me back then. My junior high school was packed with kids, I only had about three friends, and I was also obsessed with everything. It was hard for me to make friends too. I also broke the rule about going off campus and skipped a period to go to the 7-11. I was also obsessed about getting actual Candie’s shoes. (Google it) (Too expensive, but my mom bought me knock-offs at Zayre’s) I also changed best friends about then—I didn’t have so dramatic a falling out with the one I had grown up with, but we hung out less and less as she got more and more involved in things I didn’t do. Just like Charisse, I felt grouchy and hurt.
I remember how up-and-down the early teens are—how I was so sure NO ONE ELSE EVER FELT LIKE THIS. It’s a tough time for any young woman. You’re not sure you’re good enough, you don’t like your skin or your teeth or your whatever. Then the next day, things are good. Things are changing fast. Charisse can talk to her mom, though, and her brother and her mémé – if only in halting French in her mémé’s case. Charisse has a lot to be thankful about. Negotiating changing friendships is a difficult thing sometimes, and sometimes you don’t want to talk to anyone about it. This book can help middle-schoolers and early teens to not feel like they’re so alone. It’s helpful to know that feeling awkward and trying different things to see if they fit is normal. It’s also normal to think that something is going to last forever. It’s telling that Charisse fears running into her ex-bestie through the whole book, but when she does, it’s not really a thing. She’s moved on.
The artwork is brightly colored and sharp, and the panels are varied in size to break the story into different sections. This helps give the reader a break during some emotional parts. It also slows the pacing, which is perfectly executed. I reviewed the digital copy, so can’t speak to the printing or binding. The book is 262 pages, plus whatever is added to the print edition. Harper has also written “So Embarrassing—Awkward Moments and how to get through them”, which would be a natural partner to this book. Recommended for any middle school library.
Wrong Friend By Charisse Mericle Harper Art by Rory Lucey Macmillan First Second, 2026 ISBN: 9781250851970
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,
From studying under J.R.R. Tolkien in university to fighting the rise of fascism in the 20th century to serving as a powerful creative force behind the most famous works published by George Orwell—23rd Street Books dives into the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy in Mrs. Orwell, written by journalist, author, and filmmaker Andrea Chalupa with art by Brahm Revel.
Mrs. Orwell opens with our introduction Eileen O’Shaughnessy (later Eileen Blair), studying at university under the esteemed Professor Tolkien, partying at night, and chafing against the strict social standards which hold women back in the name of propriety. At a party, she crosses paths with a writer named Eric Blair, who publishes under the name George Orwell.
With shared interests in art and politics, the two find a deeply passionate connection, somewhat to the dismay of Eileen’s brother with whom she lives. From marriage to traveling conflict zones in Europe in search of political movements and armed resistance to the rise of fascism and the brewing storm of what would become World War II, Eileen and her husband find themselves tested as they fight for both their ideals and their lives.
A talented writer on her own, Eileen throws herself fiercely behind supporting her husband’s work, serving as editor, typist, and muse for numerous of his publications, especially influencing his most famous titles, Animal Farm and 1984. With a world in violent chaos and a marriage fraught with turmoil and infidelity, this graphic novel shines a light on two incredibly influential writers—only one of whom remains widely known today.
As discussed in the note at the end of the book, Mrs. Orwell serves as a work of historical fiction that nevertheless draws heavily from recorded fact. It even includes a reading guide for anyone wanting to dive deeper into Eileen’s life. While never shying away from the complexities and failings of either Eileen or Eric, the main focus remains on recognizing and celebrating Eileen’s work and the vital role that art and resistance play in the face of violence. The characters are layered, revealing facets of themselves through engaging and entertaining dialogue, while Chalupa carries us through a great span of time including major historical events on the world stage. It’s a great deal of content to cover in a book of this sort, and if Mrs. Orwell has any flaw, it’s that there’s not quite enough time to unpack some of the history, particularly in the book’s later portion.
Nevertheless, in tackling themes of fascism, war, censorship, art, and media—there’s a wealth of material here that remains all too relevant today. But in addition to uncovering lesser known biography and vital discussions about the nature of creation and resistance, the book is also simply fun to read. Entertaining and often funny, it succeeds on a narrative level as much as a historical one. It’s a feat to balance all these elements, and Chalupa has written a striking story about two passionate, flawed, messy, creative, and highly influential people which brings them to vibrant life within these pages.
And speaking of vibrant pages, Revel’s shifting palate of art is a delight from start to finish. Colors and tones shift across the story, as do the layouts and structures of each page. With a careful eye for pacing and visual storytelling, Revel keeps the art grounded without being afraid to weave in flashes of stylization and dramatic representations of emotions alongside the more focused, powerful moments the book has to offer. Heightening both humor and heartache, Revel’s visuals are a vital aspect of the book’s appeal. The grit feels real, as does the threat of war and death. At the same time, we get soft romantic interludes, mixed realities where fiction intrudes on the present, and appropriate weight given to the heavier themes the book holds in store.
23rd Street Books lists this title for adult readers. There are smatterings of violence, sexuality, and language throughout, but the book never lingers on the more mature elements or presents them in graphic detail. At the same time, with a strong historical focus alongside a range of complex topics and themes, it’s likely the book will appeal most to older readers and those already familiar with Orwell’s work. It could also be a good companion read for older students studying Orwell’s life and writing. Overall, Mrs. Orwell is an excellent read in its own right, while also bringing to life a figure often lost in the obscurity of history. A woman who refused to accept the bounds society placed on her, a fighter who dreamed of a better world, a writer who left her mark for generations to come—more people should know the name Eileen O’Shaughnessy, and this graphic novel is an excellent step in ensuring that her life and accomplishments are not forgotten.
Mrs. Orwell By Andrea Chalupa Art by Brahm Revel 23rd Street Books, 2026 ISBN: 9781250877857
Company Age Rating: Adult
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Heartcore is a roller coaster of the ups and downs of falling in and out of love. Author Št?pánka Jislová examines her relationship with relationships. How do we form preferences? What do our preferences say about our personal character? How are we informed about our identities? How do our identities dictate our roles in society? And, more importantly, how do we rebel against those dictations?
I am very thoroughly impressed how Jislová manages to blend all these things together in a way that is coherent and relatable—this book is a memoir, it’s a comic, it’s a romcom, it’s a tragedy, and it’s also a bit of a character study/psychological evaluation. Follow Jislová through her “classic Eastern bloc postcommunist 1990s childhood” and learn about the things that made her her. English language magazines, the coming of the widely-available internet, the contradictions in societal expectations for girls and women, the emotional repression of boys and men, first and early relationships, and navigating the isolation she felt as a young person.
“With infatuation came mania, and with mania, obsession. And with obsession, frustration.”
Heartcore was one of New York Public Library’s Best New Comics for Adults of 2025, and I do want to emphasize this is a book for adults. A lot of adult subject matter is discussed – casual hookups, alcohol, drugs, assault, and the like. The book is not explicit nor graphic, but there is nudity and sexual themes throughout.
The artwork is a simplistic and smooth style – no rendering with a very limited palette. The reds stand out among the grays and gives importance and hierarchy to the items or people the comic wants to highlight. The text and narrative are very easy to read, despite how densely packed this comic is.
A thoughtful and compelling read about the lines of sex and love and where those lines interconnect (or don’t). Be mindful of its placement in your collection if you add it – the clean, uncomplicated drawings might give off the idea that the story within is simple, but it absolutely is not and it is absolutely not for children.
Heartcore By Št?pánka Jislová Graphic Mundi, 2025 ISBN: 9781637790908
Company Age Rating: 16+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Czech, Bisexual,
There are many people who take a good night’s sleep for granted while others would do anything to have it. In a world where caffeine is plentiful, doomscrolling is the number one activity behind pickleball, and anxiety is seemingly a cornerstone of our society, a good night’s sleep, for many, seems to be more unattainable by the day. Graphic storyteller Maureen Burdock has dealt with insomnia for much of her life and chronicles her journey in Sleepless Planet: A Graphic Guide to Healing from Insomnia, a book that’s part memoir, part self-help book, and part good sleep manifesto.
Burdock has suffered from insomnia since childhood. As an adult, she sought out doctors and specialists for quick fixes, including drugs and machines to help her breathe properly while sleeping. She eventually comes across a more holistic approach that includes diet, exercise, spirituality, and realizing how our culture of consumerism and progress are detrimental to our own mental health and even the health of the planet.
Far from a simple how-to-sleep manual, Burdock introduces a lot of concepts that don’t initially seem connected. The book can swing wildly from biography to environmental studies to dream studies and mediation. However, there is a slow and steady progression of ideas that are well-researched, according to the footnotes at the end of the book. Burdock’s work is broken up into four chapters, which helps break up the information she presents into manageable chunks and each chapter feels like its own separate book on better sleep. By labeling each chapter as one of the four elements (air, fire, earth, and water), Burdock also creates a mystical, dreamlike aesthetic that suits a book presenting an overall holistic approach to getting better sleep.
That dreamlike aesthetic is only reinforced by Burdock’s artwork, which, while eschewing color, presents a vivid landscape where slices of life are intertwined with symbolic imagery. Presenting information within comic panels along with pictures can often be more accessible, whether those pictures use illustration to demonstrate an idea in action or simply to create a sense of whimsy, what Mary Poppins would call a “spoonful of sugar” that helps the didactic text blocks be remembered. Burdock presents a lot of whimsy in the form of talking koalas, inanimate objects with expressive faces, and an anthropomorphic representation of menopause that smothers the author much in the same way an MMA fighter smothers an opponent.
Adult services librarians interested in purchasing this book should reconsider simply sticking this book in your library’s Graphic Novel collection. Consider putting it in your library’s nonfiction section with other books on diseases and how to cure them. It will improve the chances of a person in need of a good night sleep (and in need of advice from someone who’s lived with insomnia) finding it.
Sleepless Planet A Graphic Guide to Healing from Insomnia By Maureen Burdock Graphic Mundi, 2025 ISBN: 9781637790939
A good biographer knows that their subject must be discussed in an unbiased manner, no matter how much visceral hatred is generated by that subject, and for many graphic novel fans, no name generates more hatred than Dr. Frederic Wertham. For the uninitiated, Wertham, a psychiatrist, led a lifelong crusade against comic books in the 1950’s, nearly putting a publishing company permanently out of business and helping bring about a Comics Code that strictly regimented what kinds of stories comic creators could publish. For many comics fans, Wertham personified oppressive censorship with a generous helping of pretentiousness. However, writer Eric Schechter and Eric Powell once again demonstrate how to look at all facets of a person’s life, even the most notorious persons, in this biography of Dr. Wertham called Dr. Werthless.
Dr. Wertham accomplished a great deal in his lifetime. He was the first doctor to open a clinic in Harlem where he treated many disadvantaged African-American patients, as well as testified in a pivotal court case that helped finally end segregation in American schools. Believing violence could be eliminated if its causes were isolated, Wertham zeroed in on what he felt was a major cause of violence and delinquency among youth: crime and horror comics. After putting EC comics in Congress’s crosshairs, Wertham devoted much of his life to attacking comics as a whole with a zeal that bordered on fanatical and ultimately tarnished his reputation.
In Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, Schechter and Powell looked at the life of Ed Gein, a man known to craft furniture from human remains. Like Gein, Wertham, though less reprehensible, exists as a kind of bogeyman in the mind of comic book fans and Schechter gives Wertham’s story the same unbiased treatment, looking at who he was along with the sum total of his achievements, particularly Wertham’s study of depraved criminal acts which are as horrifying and salacious as any comic story he railed against. He depicts Wertham as a man who became a victim of his own hubris, a doctor who began his crusade with noble intentions but was sabotaged by his penchants for sensationalism and self-aggrandizement.
Those who are familiar with Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? will recognize the style of Eric Powell’s artwork from that book, even as it looks quite different from his Goon comics. The men and women in this book favor a more realistic approach to facial structure and anatomy while the black and white shading gives his illustrations depth. The face that comes closest to Goon’s exaggerations is Dr. Wertham’s, a face as thin and angular as an Easter Island statue’s.
While lacking the true crime sensationalism that drew readers to Ed Gein’s story, Dr. Werthless is still a worthy purchase for adult library collections with a robust biography section. Wertham, in this book, falls between a villain and a tragic figure, a man dedicated to humanity who eventually lost his way.
Dr. Werthless By Eric Schechter Art by Eric Powell Dark Horse, 2025 ISBN: 9781506744360
Company Age Rating: 16+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Yellow Singing Sail is the memoir of Yinfan Huang—a girl who was growing up in rural China, Xintian County, until her family moves to the big city of Guangzhou. The narrative is full of the relatable experiences of being the new fish out of water in town. There are many, many ups and downs to the experience, but Yinfan finally finds a friend who loves her for exactly how and who she is.
But this book doesn’t contain the story of just Yinfan – it also tells of her grandparents, her mother, her uncle; all pivotal figures in her life and all different in their personalities and upbringings. There are echoes of older generations permeating through the years, messages and lessons diluting as time goes on, but oddly enough, superstitions still holding strong. China’s one-child policy is in effect, and Yinfan even has to go to mandatory military training as a young teen.
I always want to be in good faith when I comment on the illustrations—I have to use my undergrad degree somehow, right? I wish I could say more about its successful aspects, but visually this is not the graphic novel for me. The art is incredibly simple with very, very few colors—it evokes doodles on a sticky notepad during work (or, perhaps more accurately, school day doodles on notebook paper). Even those scant scant colors remind me of highlighter markers (green, orange, and gray). There is no rendering, no backgrounds, and no real dynamics to show visual hierarchy. Very little of it is technically proficient. Perhaps this memoir was best meant for a more textually dense setting, like a traditional print book, as the story contains lots of explanation and labels. The prose is easy to read and very heartfelt.
This is a good book, I feel, for modern American children. It gives a perspective that seems a bit hard to find these days. Yellow Singing Sail takes place in a modern backdrop, but there are a number of instances that stand out in this story that might pique a young reader’s interest: imagine never having seen an airplane, or using a mechanical pencil, being mandated to have the same haircut as all of your classmates, or traveling across the country only to find that a different language is spoken and the isolation that comes with that. The story is interwoven with both unique and universal experiences that could create connections between the author and reader. I struggled quite a bit with the visual aspects of this book, but I could see a young person reading it, seeing these illustrations, and being encouraged to write and draw their own stories.
Yellow Singing Sail: A Memoir of an Only Child in China Vol. By Yinfan Huang Kids Can Press, 2025 ISBN: 9781525305511
Company Age Rating: 11-14
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13) Creator Representation: Chinese-American, Character Representation: Chinese-American,
In The Last Time We Spoke, the author opens with an encounter. A woman on the train resembles his mother so much that he starts to believe it is her – except that his mother cannot be there. She died when he was 14, and when she was just 49. This is the power of grief – the way memories of a lost loved one can strike at any time and be strong enough to envision them there.
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.
must be now, with the internet, smart phones and social media. Even without any of that, I remember how awkward and unsure I was.
force behind the most famous works published by George Orwell—23rd Street Books dives into the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy in Mrs. Orwell, written by journalist, author, and filmmaker Andrea Chalupa with art by Brahm Revel.
relationships. How do we form preferences? What do our preferences say about our personal character? How are we informed about our identities? How do our identities dictate our roles in society? And, more importantly, how do we rebel against those dictations?
There are many people who take a good night’s sleep for granted while others would do anything to have it. In a world where caffeine is plentiful, doomscrolling is the number one activity behind pickleball, and anxiety is seemingly a cornerstone of our society, a good night’s sleep, for many, seems to be more unattainable by the day. Graphic storyteller Maureen Burdock has dealt with insomnia for much of her life and chronicles her journey in Sleepless Planet: A Graphic Guide to Healing from Insomnia, a book that’s part memoir, part self-help book, and part good sleep manifesto.
A good biographer knows that their subject must be discussed in an unbiased manner, no matter how much visceral hatred is generated by that subject, and for many graphic novel fans, no name generates more hatred than Dr. Frederic Wertham. For the uninitiated, Wertham, a psychiatrist, led a lifelong crusade against comic books in the 1950’s, nearly putting a publishing company permanently out of business and helping bring about a Comics Code that strictly regimented what kinds of stories comic creators could publish. For many comics fans, Wertham personified oppressive censorship with a generous helping of pretentiousness. However, writer Eric Schechter and Eric Powell once again demonstrate how to look at all facets of a person’s life, even the most notorious persons, in this biography of Dr. Wertham called Dr. Werthless.
the big city of Guangzhou. The narrative is full of the relatable experiences of being the new fish out of water in town. There are many, many ups and downs to the experience, but Yinfan finally finds a friend who loves her for exactly how and who she is.
