Graphic Medicine

This extraordinary graphic novel is a powerful denunciation of sexual violence against women. As seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl named Una, it takes place in northern England in 1977, as the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer of prostitutes, is on the loose and creating panic among the townspeople. As the police struggle in their clumsy attempts to find the killer, and the headlines in the local paper become more urgent, a once self-confident Una teaches herself to "lower her gaze" in order to deflect attention from boys. After she is "slut-shamed" at school for having birth control pills, Una herself is the subject of violent acts for which she comes to blame herself. But as the police finally catch up with and identify the killer, Una grapples with the patterns of behaviour that led her to believe she was to blame. Becoming Unbecoming combines various styles, press clippings, photo-based illustrations, and splashes of colour to convey young Una's sense of confusion and rage, as well as sobering statistics on sexual violence against women. The book is a no-holds-barred indictment of sexual violence against women and the shame and blame of its victims that also celebrates the empowerment of those able to gain control over their selves and their bodies.

New paperback edition of this best-selling graphic novel. No one asks for the childhood they get, and no child ever deserved to go to Chartwell Manor. For Glenn Head, his two years spent at the now-defunct Mendham, NJ, boarding school -- run by a serial sexual and emotional abuser of young boys in the early 1970s -- left emotional scars in ways that he continues to process. This graphic memoir -- a book almost 50 years in the making -- tells the story of that experience, and then delves with even greater detail into the reverberations of that experience in adulthood, including addiction and other self-destructive behavior. Head tells his story with unsparing honesty, depicting himself as a deeply flawed human struggling to make sense of the childhood he was given.

Phoebe Gloeckner's first book collects her highly praised autobiographical accounts of a teenage girl's loss of innocence through sex, drugs, rape, and AIDS. This edition includes eight pages of new material. Long respected as one of the finest and most original of today's underground comics artists, Gloeckner shows both technical artistry and tremendous range--from her sly, lurid, and brilliantly colored posters for rock groups to her textbook-quality medical illustrations; from her sharp naturalistic juxtapositions for The Atrocity Exhibition (J.G. Ballard) to the signature comics for which she is best known. Pages include both black and white and color comics, some that were published before in obscure comic books, and some of her classics in addition to new stories. In detailed, nuanced panels, these strips depict the isolation, horror, and disappointment--but also the revolutionary, transformative power--of young women trapped in circumstances ringed with drugs and sexual abuse. Gloeckner continues as a major literary and visual artist.

How do you rebuild your life after sexual abuse?...'The Courage To Be Me' combines science, storytelling and illustration to send a message of hope to the millions of people who are living with the impact of rape or sexual abuse.

by Debbie Drechsler Originally published in 1995 and distributed only to comic book specialty stores, Daddy's Girl was ahead of its time - Drechsler's account of her abuse at the hands of her father, told from the point of view of an adolescent, is one of the most searingly honest, empathic, and profoundly disturbing uses of the comics medium in history. Drechsler's meticulous brush lines gather into heavy textures that suggest the claustrophobic tension of the environment that threatens her pre-teen and adolescent female protagonists. Characters such as Lily, who can't escape her father's abuse, and Franny, a girl whose desire to be accepted leads her into dangerous territory, struggle not to be visually and emotionally overwhelmed. Central to this quasi-memoir is Lily's relationship to her father - a confused jumble of fear, trepidation, and love.

Rosalind B. Penfold is an appealing, successful thirty-five-year-old businesswoman running her own company when her parents, worried that she works too hard, invite her to a country picnic-party one weekend. There she meets widower Brian and is swept off her feet. Romantic and exuberant, with four loving children, Brian seems like everything a woman could possibly want, and Roz falls deeply in love. But soon Roz begins to notice troubling signs that Brian is not what he seems. A pattern of lies and petty cruelties begins to emerge that, over the course of their decade together, comes to encompass a litany of physical, mental, and sexual abuse appalling in its scope and malevolence. Often too traumatized and ashamed to admit the true extent of what she is experiencing, Roz instead pours her anguish into a series of graphic diaries that provide a touching, profoundly shocking, and completely original portrait of domestic abuse. An extraordinary visual testimony, Dragonslippers presents the many warning signs of abuse and offers a frank examination of the psychology of both abusers and victims. Above all, this is the story of a woman who fights for and finds the strength to break free.

More than 60 female comics creators share their personal experiences with sexual violence and harassment through new and original comics Inspired by the global #MeToo Movement, Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of original, nonfiction comics drawn by more than 60 female cartoonists from around the world. Featuring such noted creators as Emil Ferris, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, MariNaomi, Liana Finck, and Ebony Flowers the anthology's contributors comprise a diverse group of many ages, sexual orientations, and races--and their personal stories convey the wide spectrum of sexual harassment and abuse that is still all too commonplace. With a percentage of profits going to RAINN, Drawing Power is an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world. Full list of contributors: Rachel Ang, Zoe Belsinger, Jennifer Camper, Caitlin Cass, Tyler Cohen, Marguerite Dabaie, Soumya Dhulekar, Wallis Eates, Trinidad Escobar, Kat Fajardo, Joyce Farmer, Emil Ferris, Liana Finck, Sarah Firth, Mary Fleener, Ebony Flowers, Claire Folkman, Noel Franklin Katie Fricas, Siobhán Gallagher, Joamette Gil, J. Gonzalez-Blitz, Georgiana Goodwin, Roberta Gregory, Marian Henley, Soizick Jaffre Avy Jetter, Sabba Khan, Kendra Josie Kirkpatrick, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Nina Laden, Miss Lasko-Gross, Carol Lay, Miriam Libicki Sarah Lightman, LubaDalu, Ajuan Mance, MariNaomi, Lee Marrs, Liz Mayorga, Lena Merhej, Bridget Meyne, Carta Monir, Hila Noam Diane Noomin, Breena Nuñez, Meg O'Shea, Corinne Pearlman, Cathrin Peterslund, Minnie Phan, Kelly Phillips, Powerpaola, Sarah Allen Reed, Kaylee Rowena, Ariel Schrag, M. Louise Stanley, Maria Stoian, Nicola Streeten, Marcela Trujillo, Carol Tyler, Una, Lenora Yerkes, Ilana Zeffren      

Appeared on best of the year lists from The New York Times, The Guardian, and more! Winner of The Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Print Comic of the Year! Grass is a powerful antiwar graphic novel, telling the life story of a Korean girl named Okseon Lee who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War--a disputed chapter in twentieth-century Asian history. Beginning in Lee's childhood, Grass shows the lead-up to the war from a child's vulnerable perspective, detailing how one person experienced the Japanese occupation and the widespread suffering it entailed for ordinary Koreans. Keum Suk Gendry-Kim emphasizes Lee's strength in overcoming the many forms of adversity she experienced. Grass is painted in a black ink that flows with lavish details of the beautiful fields and farmland of Korea and uses heavy brushwork on the somber interiors of Lee's memories. The cartoonist Gendry-Kim's interviews with Lee become an integral part of Grass, forming the heart and architecture of this powerful nonfiction graphic novel and offering a holistic view of how Lee's wartime suffering changed her. Grass is a landmark graphic novel that makes personal the desperate cost of war and the importance of peace.

"And suddenly I am flooded... terror, shame, despair, horror, disgust." "How can I talk about things I can't pin down?" With subtlety and sensitivity, this powerful graphic novel draws the reader into the experience of trauma and dissociation caused by sexual violence. It reveals the intrusive traumatic memories and distress experienced by a victim of childhood sexual exploitation in her adulthood and follows the process of coming to terms with her past through therapy and art. Positive and hopeful at its heart, it demonstrates her ability to be a good parent irrespective of mental health struggles and explores the importance of relationships with people in the present. Tackling complex issues including the nature of traumatic memory, self-harm, victim-blaming, racism in the police, health and education services and the media's impact, this graphic novel reveals how the past can be triggered by the present and how victims of sexual abuse can be excellent parents and successful in life in spite of this.

Winner of the 2023 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize At 15, Emily is a relatively typical teenage girl living in the Maritimes. She lives with her eccentric dad as he prepares to build a log cabin. She rides her beloved horse and spends all her free time taking in the fresh air. But things aren't perfect, the winters are harsh and her dad's place is cold and draughty. Enter their neighbour who sees a girl in need and offers to lend a hand. Three words: "OUR LITTLE SECRET," and Emily's fate is sealed. Twenty five years later, Emily is adrift and depressed when she spots her neighbour again on a ferry. The events of that long-ago winter come rushing back, and she is forced to reckon with the past anew. She vows that she will bring him to justice, tell her secret, and come to terms with the wounds that defined so many years of her life. Inept lawyers, expensive therapy, and a broken justice system block Emily's path to peace. Only when she rediscovers her youthful artistic talent by putting pen to paper does she see a way out. Now in her fifties, Carrington has crafted a compulsively readable debut that shows a powerful command of the comics medium. Our Little Secret is a testament to survival and to the importance of telling your story your way.

"A quick, easy and important educational comic guide to giving and receiving consent in sex, relationships, and other physical contact.  How do you tell someone you want to do stuff with them? How do you ask if they want to do stuff with you? How do you know what stuff you want to do with each other? Enter: Sargeant Yes Means Yes from the Consent Cavalry, a beacon of clarity in a fuzzy minefield of questions. Sarge drops in on a diverse range of folks deciding whether to engage in sexual activity in this short and fun comic guide to communicating what you want, don't want, and how you want it! With wit and charm, Sarge also includes tips on what affirmative consent looks like, advocating for what you want, and setting boundaries that honor your comfort and safety. The result is a positive resource illustrating how easy it really is to respect each other's bodies and desires."

From the New York Times bestselling author and award-winning creator of Essex County, Secret Path, Descender, and The Underwater Welder comes an all-original graphic novel about a brother and sister who must come together after years apart to face the disturbing history that has cursed their family. Derek Ouelette's glory days are behind him. His hockey career ended a decade earlier in a violent incident on ice, and since then he's been living off his reputation in the remote northern community where he grew up, drinking too much and fighting anyone who crosses him. But he never counts on his long-lost sister, Beth, showing up one day out of the blue, back in town and on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Looking to hide out for a while, the two siblings hunker down in a secluded hunting camp deep in the local woods. It is there that they attempt to find a way to reconnect with each other and the painful secrets of their past...even as Beth's ex draws closer, threatening to pull both Derek and Beth back into a world of self-destruction that they are fighting tooth and nail to leave behind. Simultaneously touching and harrowing, Roughneck is a masterwork from New York Times bestselling writer/artist Jeff Lemire--a deeply moving and beautifully illustrated story of family, heritage, and the desire to break the cycle of violence at any cost from one of today's most acclaimed comic creators.

This striking, critically acclaimed autobiographical work tells a gut-wrenching but ultimately hopeful story of trauma and recovery, and makes a case for the power and importance of fictional heroes. It chronicles the effects of unthinkable childhood pain on the creator's adult life, examining the conflict between the popularly-accepted "Cycle of Abuse" and the message at the core of all good superhero stories: "You are who you choose to be." Dean Trippe is a comic book artist known for creating the webcomic Butterfly and the graphic novel Power Lunch, as well as co-founding the superhero redesign blog Project Rooftop.

A 2023 Eisner Award Nominee for Best Graphic Memoir A 2023 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection Part memoir, part self-help book, So Much For Love offers hilarious and empathetic advice on how to survive a relationship with a master manipulator. Sophie had always been cynical about love--until she meets Marcus. His affection and doting praise melt away her defenses. The beginning of their relationship was a whirlwind romance, but over time she finds herself on uneven footing. Marcus lies. He's violently angry and bewilderingly inconsistent. Yet somehow he always manages to explain away his behavior and to convince Sophie that it's all in her head. The whiplash of this toxic relationship has Sophie's head spinning. When she hits rock bottom, she fights her way out with fierce honesty, irreverent humor, and the help of Chocolat, a wisecracking, booze-drinking bear.

Gold medal winner in the 'Independent Spirit' category of the Independent Publishers Outstanding Book of the Year Awards 2016 "I was fifteen." "I never saw him again." "They chanted after me, 'Oscar the Grouch, Oscar the Grouch." Bringing together the voices of males and females of all ages, the stories in this collective graphic memoir reflect real life experiences of sexual abuse, violence and harassment. Each experience is brought to life by Maria Stoian's exceptional artwork. Her unique and varied styles powerfully reflect the tone and mood of the different stories and in just a few pages express the complex emotions felt by victims of sexual abuse. Covering acts such as sexual violence, public sexual harassment, domestic abuse and child abuse, this is a reminder for survivors that they are not alone and a call for all of us to take action. The stories clearly show that assault of any type is not an honour bestowed on anyone. It is not a compliment.

Threadbare presents the connections between the international sex and garment trades and human trafficking in a beautifully illustrated comic series. From the sweatshops of Cambodia to the traditional ateliers of Vienna, from the life of a globetrotting supermodel to the warehouses of large clothing retailers, from the second-hand clothing industry to the politics of the sex trade, Threadbare paints a concerning picture of human rights in a globalised world, as well as offering a practical guide to a growing problem few truly understand.

"Consent is not the absence of 'NO', it is an enthusiastic YES!!" While seemingly straightforward, Tia and Bryony hadn't considered this subject too seriously until it comes up in conversation with their friends and they realise just how important it is. Following the sexual assault of a classmate, a group of teenage girls find themselves discussing the term consent, what it actually means for them in their current relationships, and how they act and make decisions with peer influence. Joined by their male friends who offer another perspective, this rich graphic novel uncovers the need for more informed conversations with young people around consent and healthy relationships. Accompanying the graphics are sexual health resources for students and teachers, which make this a perfect tool for broaching the subject with teens.

Based on a true story of the writer's own experience, this graphic novel presents very simply the grey areas involved in child abuse. Ka explains how he kept the whole episode deep within him and how his rage and self-pity eventually let it all out - finally revisiting the man when close to death and coming to terms with what had happened. A very moving, topical and important work, sensitively presented.

May, a young teenage girl, traverses the city streets, finding keepsakes in different places along her journey. When May and her kookum make these keepsakes into a necklace, it opens a world of danger and fantasy. While May fights against a terrible reality, she learns that there is strength in the spirit of those that have passed. But will that strength be able to save her? A story of tragedy and beauty, Will I See illuminates the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), also known as the Algerian Revolution, was a messy and vicious conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front. Waged primarily in Algeria, it severely traumatized citizens on both sides of the Mediterranean, and it continues to have a troubled legacy to this day. Inspired by real events, this poignantly narrated and beautifully illustrated graphic novel tells the story of this confrontation through female protagonists. Algériennes follows the investigative efforts of Beatrice, the daughter of a French-Algerian War veteran. Beatrice's father was never able to talk about what he had experienced during the war. Wanting to know more about this part of her family's history, Beatrice sets off on a voyage of discovery that eventually leads her to Algiers. Along the way, she meets women who recount their experiences during the war. Saïda was a child who made a harrowing escape with her family to France, only to end up in an internment camp. Djamila was a mujahidate rebel who fought alongside the men and witnessed firsthand the barbarity of war. Bernadette was a French woman who refused to leave Algeria after the conflict ended and was ostracized as a pied-noir. Malika was a terrorist bomber fighting on the side of the resistance. Over the course of the narrative, their stories intersect and complete one another, resulting in a powerful and moving picture of what both women and men lived through during the Algerian Revolution--and a clearer understanding of why these events have been, for so many, nearly impossible to discuss.

The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as "the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust" (Wall Street Journal) and "the first masterpiece in comic book history" (The New Yorker) * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * One of Variety's "Banned and Challenged Books Everyone Should Read" A brutally moving work of art--widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written--Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author's father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.  Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author's account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.

JOE SACCO MEETS PERSEPOLIS IN THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL FROM A NEW INTERNATIONAL TALENT, HAMID SULAIMAN--WINNER ENGLISH PEN AWARD­--It is spring 2012 and 40,000 people have died since the start of the Syrian Arab Spring. In the wake of this, Yasmine has set up a clandestine hospital in the north of the country. Her town is controlled by Assad's brutal regime, but is relatively stable. However, as the months pass, the situation becomes increasingly complex and violent. Told in stark, beautiful black-and-white imagery, Freedom Hospital illuminates a complicated situation with gut-wrenching detail and very dark humor. The story of Syria is one of the most devastating narratives of our age and Freedom Hospital is an important and timely book from a new international talent.

In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her son has never heard: how, as a young Jewish girl in Paris, she was hidden away from the Nazis by a series of neighbors and friends who risked their lives to keep her alive when her parents had been taken to concentration camps. Hidden ends on a tender note, with Dounia and her mother rediscovering each other as World War II ends . . . and a young girl in present-day France becoming closer to her grandmother, who can finally, after all those years, tell her story. With words by Loïc Dauvillier and art by Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo, this picture book-style comic for young readers is a touching read.

Joe is a shy high school student who is relentlessly bullied, and must find comfort in the natural world. Soon however, the story twists into a tale of power and fear complete with visual symbolism and beautiful cartooning. The morally ambiguous ending will keep you thinking long after you close the covers. Already a success in French (published by Delcourt) the English version was serialized in small mini comic chapters through Oily Comics in the US. Moose is the highly anticipated collected volume.

Named The Year's Best Graphic Novel by Publishers Weekly Named one of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Best Books of 2023 Named one of NPR's Books We Love Named one of Kirkus' Best 2023 Books Named one of the Washington Post's 10 best graphic novels of 2023 One of TIME Magazine's Must-Read Books of the Year Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2024 Booklist Editors' Choice: Graphic Novels, 2023 New York Public Library's Best New Comics of 2023 Top Ten Pick Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2023 Top Ten Pick Named one of School Library Journal's Best Graphic Novels of 2023 Named one of The Guardian's Best Graphic Novels of 2023 Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn't have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are. Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles--and finding a voice through cartooning--Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk.

The New York Times bestselling graphic memoir from actor/author/activist George Takei returns in a deluxe hardcover edition with bonus material! Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. Now with sixteen pages of bonus content from George Takei and his co-creators- a new afterword plus a behind-the-scenes tour of the process of researching, writing, drawing, and promoting They Called Us Enemy, featuring historical documents, scripts, sketches, photos, and more! George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his magnetic performances, sharp wit, and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the terrors and small joys of childhood in the shadow of legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's tested faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins cowriters Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.

In the tradition of Maus, Persepolis, Palestine, and The Breadwinner, Vanni is a graphic novel documenting the human side of the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the "Tamil Tigers." Told from the perspective of a single family, it takes readers through the otherwise unimaginable struggles, horrors, and life-changing decisions families and individuals are forced to make when caught up in someone else's war. Set in Vanni, the northern region of Sri Lanka that was devastated by the civil war, this graphic novel follows the Ramachandran family as they flee their home after the 2004 tsunami and move from one displacement camp to the next, seeking an ever-elusive safe haven and struggling to keep each other alive. Inspired by Benjamin Dix's experience working in Sri Lanka for the United Nations during the war, Vanni draws on more than four years of meticulous research, official reports, and first-hand interviews with refugees. It depicts heroic acts of kindness and horrific acts of violence, memorializing the experiences of the Tamil civilians against the forces that seek to erase their memory. Elegantly drawn by Lindsay Pollock, this exceptionally moving graphic novel portrays the personal experiences of modern warfare, the process of forced migration, and the struggles of seeking asylum in Europe.

The story begins with a mother's confession...sisters permanently separated by a border during the Korean War Keum Suk Gendry-Kim was an adult when her mother revealed a family secret: She had been separated from her sister during the Korean War. It's not an uncommon story--the peninsula was split across the 38th parallel, dividing one country into two. As many fled violence in the north, not everyone was able to make it south. Her mother's story inspired Gendry-Kim to begin interviewing her and other Koreans separated by the war; that research fueled a deeply resonant graphic novel. The Waiting is the fictional story of Gwija, told by her novelist daughter Jina. When Gwija was 17 years old, after hearing that the Japanese were seizing unmarried girls, her family married her in a hurry to a man she didn't know. Japan fell, Korea gained its independence, and the couple started a family. But peace didn't come. The young family of four fled south. On the road, while breastfeeding and changing her daughter, Gwija was separated from her husband and son. Then seventy years passed. Seventy years of waiting. Gwija is now an elderly woman and Jina can't stop thinking about the promise she made to help find her brother. Expertly translated from the Korean by the award-winning translator Janet Hong, The Waiting is the devastating followup to Gendry-Kim's Grass, which appeared on best of the year lists from the New York Times, The Guardian, Library Journal, and more.

"Deftly upends the compliant narrative with impeccably documented stories of resistance and rebellion ... Made urgent yet again, the trio's courageous refusals to accept the U.S.--their!--government's heinous miscarriage of justice should irrefutably embolden new generations ... Their collective history will resonate with older teens. Also highly recommended for high-school and college classrooms." -- Terry Hong, Booklist "It leaves you simultaneously furious, questioning ideas of loyalty and citizenship ... and deeply moved. May all of us learn, and share, these stories." -- Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times Three voices. Three acts of defiance. One mass injustice. The story of camp as you've never seen it before. Japanese Americans complied when evicted from their homes in World War II -- but many refused to submit to imprisonment in American concentration camps without a fight. In this groundbreaking graphic novel, meet JIM AKUTSU, the inspiration for John Okada's No-No Boy, who refuses to be drafted from the camp at Minidoka when classified as a non-citizen, an enemy alien; HIROSHI KASHIWAGI, who resists government pressure to sign a loyalty oath at Tule Lake, but yields to family pressure to renounce his U.S. citizenship; and MITSUYE ENDO, a reluctant recruit to a lawsuit contesting her imprisonment, who refuses a chance to leave the camp at Topaz so that her case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Based upon painstaking research, We Hereby Refuse presents an original vision of America's past with disturbing links to the American present.

Soon to be a major motion picture, starring; Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson! R. J. Palacio's unforgettable graphic novel debut is a story about the power of kindness and unrelenting courage in a time of war. SYDNEY TAYLOR AWARD WINNER * A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In R. J. Palacio's bestselling collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian's grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère's heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend. Sara's harrowing experience movingly demonstrates the power of kindness to change hearts, build bridges, and even save lives. As Grandmère tells Julian, "It always takes courage to be kind, but in those days, such kindness could cost you everything." With poignant symbolism and gorgeous artwork that brings Sara's story out of the past and cements it firmly in this moment in history, White Bird is sure to captivate anyone who was moved by the book Wonder or the blockbuster movie adaptation and its message. Praise for White Bird: "At once expressive and chaste, an elusive but ideal combination." --New York Times "A story that shows the impact of the Second World War and the rise of fascism on what had been a pastoral, fairy-tale childhood, with White Bird pulling no punches in connecting that historical moment to what's happening in the world today." --The Hollywood Reporter "Extraordinarily powerful.... White Bird does not shrink from depicting the terror and violence of the Nazi occupation for younger readers, and respects the ability of those readers to handle strong material." --Forbes "A must-read graphic novel that is both heart-rending and beautifully hopeful." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "R.J. Palacio brings to life the nature of heroism and the real risks we face today." --Meg Medina, Newbery award-winning author of Mercy Suarez Changes Gears "Rare, superb, timely, and timeless." --Mark Siegel, author of the 5 Worlds graphic novel series

A documentary-style comic that follows two ex-military personnel asthey cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in civilian life.Always on the lookout for fast exit routes in coffee shops andstruggling to connect emotionally with family members, they share theirexperiences, and how they managed to live with their illness. Honestand informative, it will reach out to anyone who has been affected byPTSD.

Singelin's PTSD is an adult fiction graphic novel that grapples with the reality of being a war veteran about a traumatized war vet who must fend for herself against all odds. After returning home from an unpopular war, Jun becomes an outsider in an indifferent world. Alone, desperate, and suffering from wounds both mental and physical, she seeks relief in the illicit drugs she manages to purchase or steal. Jun's tough exterior served her well in combat, but she'll need to nurture her vulnerability and humanity to survive at home. With the support of her fellow vets, the kindness of a stranger who refuses to turn away, and the companionship of a dog named Red, Jun learns to navigate the psychological trauma that she experienced in the war.

In the wake of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Art Spiegelman's Maus comes cartoonist Carol Tyler's multigenerational graphic memoir, You'll Never Know. The author chronicles her fraught relationship with her father, Charles, a WWII veteran, and how the war affected their lives through both childhood and adulthood. You'll Never Know is also a tribute to servicemen and women, dramatizing the trauma of the war on the Greatest Generation and those who followed. Tyler's ink and watercolor narrative is in turns sprawling and gimlet-eyed: compassionate and enraged. Her father's memories are woven into her own, which span her Catholic, Midwestern childhood; her troubled marriage; her daughter's struggles; and her efforts to care for her aging parents. Even though Tyler's work has an accessible, homemade feel (the organizing metaphor of the book is a photo album with "snapshots" of Tyler family life), You'll Never Know is a sophisticated graphic work about war, love, and loss.