Himawari House by Harmony Becker (They Called Us Enemy) is slice-of-life diaspora fiction that revolves around the sense of home, belonging, and otherness experienced by three young women living in Japan. Having decided to take a gap year between high school and college, 18-year-old Nao moves into the Himawari share house in Tokyo, where she…
REVIEW: The Greatest Thing Is a Love Letter to Gay Teens and Queer Zines
The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle (Sincerely, Harriet; Patience and Esther; and a former WWAC contributor!) is a bittersweet story about an aspiring artist who channels her dreams and anxieties into a series of comic zines. With its honest writing and soft pastel art, this graphic novel explores the realities of being a queer…
REVIEW: Shadow Life Is a Heartwarming Look at Life Before Death
My father is in his last days. We know it. He knows it. But gosh is he stubborn about how those last days are going to go. He’s still of sound mind, though his body is failing him, but he’s got enough get up and go left in him to demand that we allow him…
First Second Pubwatch: March 2020
Welcome to the new Pubwatch series for First Second Books! Stories about the magic of friendship and social issues that affect young people dominate my reviews of the graphic novels this month from the publisher First Second. This will regularly be the new place to learn about what’s happening with this innovative publisher for comics…
Shannon Hale’s Best Friends is an Unintentionally Helpful Guidebook for Parents of Preteens
Best Friends Shannon Hale (writer), LeUyen Pham (illustrator), Hilary Sycamore (colourist) First Second August 27, 2019 Shannon Hale’s Best Friends is a graphic memoir of her elementary school experiences. The sequel to 2017’s Real Friends, it covers everything from body image issues to crushes, and all the emotional turmoil in between that is the life of…
Previously On Whatever It Was We Were Reading Before N.K. Jemisin Invented Comics
This week DC announced the return of its Young Animal imprint and with it the launch of Far Sector, an original Green Lantern story written by the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author, N.K. Jemisin and artist Jamal Campbell. Alongside this we will also see the return of Doom Patrol, and the new original series…
We Attract Our Mirror Image – An Exploration of the Law of Attraction in Anya’s Ghost
Ghosted Friendships soured. Familial ties broken. Lovers lost. Over and over, people would either slowly fade away or they’d ghost completely. People have walked into my life, stayed for a short while, then vanish just as quickly as they had arrived. He or she ghosted. Why? This was something I always used to ask myself…
A Brazen Look into Amazing Woman in History: A Review
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked The World Penelope Bagieu (cartoonist and writer) First Second Books March 6, 2018 I took this book from my friend after five minutes of looking at it. In that little of time, I knew that Brazen was something special. Created by the French cartoonist Penelope Bagieu, Brazen is a bewitching…
01: First Second Fall 2018 Cover Reveal!
This month the exciting and innovative publisher First Second revealed their Fall 2018 covers. 01:First Second is the publisher that brought you great books like Pashmina, The Cute Girl Network and Tillie Walden’s ice skater graphic Novel Spinning, and this fall they are release some amazing title s that we know will become some of future favorites.
#WWACComicClub Recap: This One Summer
On the first Monday of every month we meet up on Twitter for the #WWACComicClub. Last week we discussed This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. The response to this comic was unanimous. Everyone loved this simple yet heartfelt coming-of-age story and agreed that Jillian Tamaki’s art was the perfect companion to Mariko Tamaki’s…
10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Each year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) reviews graphic novels for their inclusion into their Great Graphic Novels for Teens (GGNT) list. The list comprises graphic novels with teen appeal for the middle-school through college ages of 12-18 that also represent quality literature. The 2014 list was announced at the beginning of February.
Cute Girl Network blog tour: Rose the Roommate Tells It Like It Is
Picking up where my Cute Girl Network review left off, today we’re hearing from a character in the book–which is in shops today from First Second. Finally! There’s something of a blog tour going on from the creators behind CGN (I’d suggest you should click around a bit to find out where else they’ve been EDIT:…