A Passion for the Arts Display Feb 2023

What if someone took all the usual trappings of a sports series and applied them to art? That's precisely what Blue Period does! The main character is suddenly struck to take art seriously and as the complete rookie, starts learning at a rapid pace. There's also an actual discussion of art techniques, and the student art in the series is from real students in Japan. If ever there was a high-emotion series about drawing and painting, Blue Period is it.

Readers of other manga series about art like Blank Canvas or Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun will find parallels here to pick up, but also because it has the feel of a sports series Blue Period can appeal to readers of series like Haikyu! or Yowamushi Pedal. The way it introduces the reader to art means they don't need to have a basis to understand; they're learning along with the main character.

Shannan Prukop

After college, cartoonist Alex Graudins was struggling with crippling anxiety and isolation. At a breaking point, she decided to sign up for improv classes. With illustrations that capture the zany improv fun and the full range of Alex's feelings, this comic about anxiety and self-discovery should not be missed.

Readers interested in learning more about improv and fans of memoirs focusing on mental health

Megan Rupe

In this thoughtful and often funny graphic memoir, Liz Montague describes the experience of growing up black in a mostly white area, the role art played throughout her childhood and her eventual trajectory into her career as an artist.

With plenty of humor, coming-of-age themes, and references to the early 2000s, Maybe An Artist will appeal to a variety of ages, including tweens and teens going through similar experiences and adults who lived through the same time period. It will especially appeal to readers who have a relationship with art or want to see how someone got into a career in art.

Brief mentions of racial microaggressions and anti-Muslim rhetoric

Megan Rupe

An unlikely friendship blooms between two teens unhappy with the expectations their parents have laid on them, and a beautiful costume forms from it. Needle and Thread is very much a comic about cosplay and finding a family in shared fandom or interests, but it's also distinctly about learning how to explain to adults that their hopes are not the same as your own and that you can still be a successful and happy person without following their dreams. Also, the art is just lovely!

The dreaming of possible other lives that don't feel possible and shifting friendships of teen life might appeal to readers of What If We Were, and the use of creative pursuit to process what's happening in life is a great fit for readers of Slip or The Greatest Thing.

Shannan Prukop

Sora knows he's gay and knows that this is something he has to keep hidden because everyone around him reacts with disgust at the idea of gay people. It's not until he stumbles across a cafe run by Mr. Amamiya, an out gay man, and begins painting a mural on the walls, that he starts to recognize that disgust is wrong, but also that life is as complex as the colors on a palette. The book itself is lovely too, with a very striking cover and inner lining.

Our Colors' sense of slightly magical realism mixed with heavy realizations about life fit right in with readers of Our Dreams at Dusk, while the use of painting and color in discussions about feelings might resonate with readers of A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow (which uses more nautical metaphors, as the title suggests).

Instances of homophobia, as well as implied infidelity and accusation of sexual assault of a minor

Shannan Prukop

Fawn, an AI with a realistic-looking human body, and Indira, a prickly young woman managing chronic pain, are both photography interns with shows at a local gallery. After their very public clash, Indira and Fawn are forced to collaborate on a show together. Can Indira and Fawn form an understanding and perhaps something more?

With gorgeous art and a quiet exploration of identity and technology, readers who enjoy exploring these ideas will find much to enjoy here.

Some drug and alcohol use

Megan Rupe

Take a girl who has been in and out of foster homes for years and has a dad in prison, add a new set of foster parents who certainly seem to be interested in her well-being, plus a top-secret case full of special paints, and you get Primer. Ashley so badly wants to prove she's not bad or broken like her dad, that she's special in a good way and worthy of love, she just creates a little chaos. It's sweet, funny, and very colorful.

The semi-magical adventures Ashley goes on, making friends and adapting to a new life, could appeal to readers of Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld. This could also appeal to readers of Invisible, looking for other stories of people not generally considered heroic finding ways to use even negative things about their lives as potential positives.

Shannan Prukop

Scout wants to meet her favorite author more than everything, but when her Dad says no to taking her to an upcoming convention where the author is appearing Scout needs to come up with a new plan to get there. When she discovers that her school's band is going to said convention as part of a school trip, she makes a plan to join the band so that she can go to the convention and see her favorite author before she retires from making appearances. Scout thinks she can fly under the radar in band until the trip but she runs into the talented and driven trombone first chair, who is determined to finish her middle school career with a win in the band competition at the end of the year.

Nerds, geeks, and super fans of all kinds will appreciate all about pursuing your passions and finding your people.

Tayla Cardillo

Jade has been accepted to a month-long summer art intensive that could give her the scholarship she needs to be able to go to art school. Right before she leaves something happens that will shake her to her core, her best friend tries to commit suicide. Feeling like she is separated from her friend when she needs her most, Jade struggles with the demands of the art intensive at first. But with the help of some new friends and mentors at the art intensive, Jade is able to use her art to move through the feelings she's having about her best friend and what happened.

Fans of Bloom and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me will enjoy this emotional coming-of-age with soft art and queer themes.

Discussions of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide.

Tayla Cardillo

David Smith is a sculptor unable to get the recognition he craves. When he meets an old man who claims to be his uncle Harry, David gains the power to sculpt any material. The catch is that he now has only two hundred days to live. David must now navigate his art goals and his personal life and figure out what really matters.

Readers who like stories that feature interesting bargains and explore big questions

Mental health; some physically intimate scenes; death (discussion of it and portrayal)

Megan Rupe