Category Archives: Comics & Graphic Fiction

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn’t know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form The Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent from terminal illness

Next Stop by Debbie Fong

Pia is a soft-spoken middle schooler whose life is turned upside down after the loss of her younger brother, followed by her parents’ decision to move to a new town. In an effort to get her mind off of the troubles at home, Pia goes on a bus tour with a family friend, stopping at weird and wacky roadside attractions. The final stop is a mysterious underground lake. The locals say it has magical powers; Pia won’t admit she believes in it, but she’s holding on to hope that the waters may hold the answer to mending her broken family.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a child
  • Drowning

Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks

Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends on Wilnick, the dilapidated space station they call home at the end of the galaxy. So naturally, when gifted scientist Sanity uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she has to show Tallulah. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds is a bit of a handful, and it isn’t long before the kitten escapes to wreak havoc on the space station. The girls will have to turn Wilnick upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it’s too late?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Animal death mentioned

Growing Pangs by Kathryn Ormsbee and Molly Brooks

Katie knows there’s stuff that makes her different. She’s homeschooled, she has freckles, and her teeth are really crooked. But none of these things matter to Kacey. They’re best friends forever. But when they go to summer camp, Kacey starts acting weird. And when Katie gets home, she can’t stop worrying. About getting braces. About 6th grade. About friends. She knows tapping three times or opening and closing a drawer won’t make everything better . . . but sometimes it helps stop the worrying. Is something wrong with her? And will anyone want to be friends with her if they find out?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Turning Twelve by Kathryn Ormsbee and Molly Brooks

Katie can’t wait to turn twelve–pool parties! babysitting! friends! But sometimes it feels like there’s so much new stuff she can barely keep up. First Job? (Yes!) Unfair dress codes? (No way!) Make up (Okay?!) Shaving? (Uh…!) Maybe growing up isn’t as much fun as she had expected. But one thing does seem right–her new friend, Grace. Could Katie have a crush on another girl? Katie knows not everyone around her will approve…which is kind of scary. She might not be ready to tell anyone yet, and that’s fine…but can Katie stay true to herself and embrace the person she’s growing up to be?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Anxiety & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

This Land Is Our Land by Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo

Jaime Reyes is an ordinary high school student in El Paso, Texas, with a deep love for his family, culture, and home. Whether it’s working with his dad at the auto shop or a multi-generational barbecue filled with music and dance, Jaime loves nothing more than his neighborhood’s spontaneous gatherings that go late into the night. But lately he’s begun to realize that he and his border community are being used as pawns in an increasingly toxic immigration debate. The last few months have seen armed troops deployed along the U.S. and Mexico border, manufactured crackdowns at official border crossings, and now at the… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & Nazism
  • Hate crime

Zenobia by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman

Zenobia was once a great warrior queen of Syria. She was courageous. No one gave her orders. Once she even went to war against the emperor of Rome. When things feel overwhelming for Amina, her mother reminds her to think of Zenobia and be strong. Amina is a Syrian girl caught up in a war that reaches her village. To escape the war she boards a small boat crammed with other refugees. The boat is rickety and the turbulent seas send Amina overboard. In the dark water Amina remembers the journey she had to undertake with her uncle to escape. And she thinks of the brave warrior Zenobia.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a child from drowning in a boating accident
  • War themes
  • Refugee experiences

Himawari House by Harmony Becker

When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heartbreaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental abandonment & estrangement
  • Infidelity
  • Anxiety
  • Alcohol consumption

Zodiac Starforce, Vol. 2: Cries of the Fire Prince by Kevin Panetta, Paulina Ganucheau and Sarah Stern

After defeating a former Zodiac Member and her mean-girl minions, the girls thought they’d catch a break! But once a mean magical girl, always a mean magical girl and Libra’s former best friend wants that power back! Determined to bring the goddess Cimmeria into our dimension, her coven opens a portal to the dark dimension Nephos, only they don’t get what they bargained for. A new big-bad has come out to play and demons begin to overrun the town! Zodiac Starforce discovers they aren’t the only Zodiac team in the game and together they form a tenuous alliance to find out who’s behind the demon infestation.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Knife violence
  • Murder (human sacrifice)

Zodiac Starforce, Vol. 1: The Power of Astra by Kevin Panetta

They’re an elite group of teenage girls with magical powers who have sworn to protect our planet against dark creatures . . . as long as they can get out of class! Known as the Zodiac Starforce, these high-school girls aren’t just combating math tests. They’re also battling monsters–not your typical afterschool activity! But when an evil force from another dimension infects team leader Emma, she must work with her team of magically powered friends to save herself–and the world–from the evil Diana and her mean-girl minions!

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Injury & blood depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a friend
  • Kidnapping
  • Physical assault
  • Bullying