Very cute and sweet! Happy ending that wasn’t fully resolved but going in the right direction for the main character.I learned a lot of facts about fencing, which was fun. This was a debut. I will definitely be checking out their future works!
On Guard! by Cassidy Wasserman, (List Price: $21.99, Random House Graphic, 9780593649985, June 2025)
Reviewed by Stephanie StJohn, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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I’m really excited for this boy and dog graphic novel readers looking for something after burning through Dogman. With adventure, a real-life challenge, and some gross-out humor, this one’s sure to be a hit for summer reading.
Good Boy by Andy Hirsch, (List Price: $14.99, First Second, 9781250291950, 2025-05-20)
Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
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Zoe Persico so beautifully captures the feeling of grieving alongside the realities of life continuing to move forward. In many situations, our friends and people we love might not have the words to tell us what they are going through, but often when we pay attention we can see the signs. Much like caring for plants. This story weaves both these ideas into a beautiful world filled with magical realism, talking plants, family dynamics, new friendships and healing. Beautifully illustrated, I can’t wait to see more from this author/creator.
How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico, (List Price: $13.99, Tundra Books, 9781774883143, April 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Don’t know if it’s the dire days of 2025 or what, but I had to laugh (so as not to cry?) while reading Spent, which felt bleakly, hysterically absurdist, a parody/satire but not without care and all too true in the way it represents the daily buzzing oversaturated mania of the hypercurrent time we live in. Poking fun at cliches of those aligned on far and opposite ends of the political spectrum, Bechdel, with humor, tugs at the impossible and insane moral quandaries of trying to make meaning, make art, make anything–focus! while everyone is drowning in “content” and grabbing at shredded attention spans and money while the world burns/floods/landslides (terrifyingly apocalyptic to realize that we’re in this dystopia NOW) and ethical consumption (and maybe ethical anything) is impossible. And yet…I enjoyed reading Spent, couldn’t look away from the train wreck we’re in. It doesn’t land hopelessly either, but instead lets go of grandiosity and the large scale, landing on the fact that we are still here and we’ve got to take care of each other in the day-to-day.
Spent by Alison Bechdel, (List Price: $32, Mariner Books, 9780063278929, May 2025)
Reviewed by Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
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Definitely one of my new favorites so far this year, the void in my heart left by the cancellation of Ice Adolescence has been filled!! <3 Iori is such a loveable protagonist, seeing her do something she loves fills me with so much joy and inspiration.
Medalist 1 by TSURUMAIKADA, (List Price: $13.99, Kodansha Comics, 9798888771853, March 2024)
Reviewed by Sam Conners, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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Gender Queer is Maia Kobabe’s autobiography about eir journey to identifying as nonbinary and asexual, and coming out to eir family and society. I devoured this book in one sitting. Usually, I struggle with graphic novels because my brain has a hard time processing images and words at the same time, but this was so seamless and gorgeously put together that I flew through it with no trouble at all! I laughed, I teared up, and most of all, I learned. As a heterosexual, cis-gender person, I can never fully understand what it’s like to identify as anyone else. But Kobabe’s memoir is so honest and vulnerable that I feel I’ve come that much closer to understanding. Gender Queer deals with so many issues that every young person goes through in life, no matter how they identify. Things like dealing with body hair that shows up during puberty, figuring out who you are and what you want in your friendships and relationships, how to say no in uncomfortable situations, self-acceptance, and how to express yourself. But it also deals with topics that we need to talk about more – like gender dysphoria, coming out, and using proper pronouns. It’s an essential read for everyone – whether you’re looking for beautiful representation or a path to learn more about our nonbinary and asexual friends. Gender Queer is an award-winning book for a reason! I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, (List Price: $19.99, Oni Press, 9781549304002, May 2019)
Reviewed by Emily Lessig, The Violet Fox Bookshop in Virginia Beach, Virginia
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Craig Thompson bursts back onto the Comix scene with this exquisitely crafted hybrid memoir/socio-cultural essay that explores his youthful experience working Wisconsin’s Ginseng farms and the fascinating history of this prized root as a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures. A book as rich in information as it is beautifully adorned.
Ginseng Roots: A Memoir by Craig Thompson, (List Price: $35, Pantheon, 9780593700778, April 2025)
Reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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The Raven Boys is one of my absolute favorite series, and I was really interested to see how it would be adapted for this graphic novel. The storyline is complex and not necessarily well suited to this format, and the writing is so beautiful and atmospheric that I wasn’t sure how it would translate. I can happily say this edition does a SUPERB job. Everything looks exactly as I imagined. Every page was full of magic and atmosphere. As a fan of the series, there were so many foreshadowing clues. I absolutely cannot wait to see the rest of the series adapted. Whether a long-time fan or a newbie to Maggie Stiefvater, any lover of magic and dark whimsy will devour this!!
The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, (List Price: $17.99, Viking Books for Young Readers, 9780593621189, August 2025)
Reviewed by Rachel Randolph, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
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Kayla E. is a ferociously inventive and blisteringly effective comix maker with an incredibly focused, original vision. Something of Chris Ware’s laser-honed visual sense and brutally tragicomic writing is in her artistic DNA, but melded with a rawer, bodily expression not unlike Lynda Barry or Phoebe Gloeckner’s. Precious Rubbish almost violently morphs and subverts the bubblegum slapstick of Nancy, Little Lulu, et al, and subverts the candy shine surfaces of 20th C. commercial illustrations, to make a universe of pain, sorrow, and black humor go down like a Coke and a smile mixed with acid and lye. Utterly brilliant.
Precious Rubbish by Kayla E., (List Price: $29.99, Fantagraphics, 9781683969280, April 2025)
Reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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Tongues is a masterpiece, and with it Anders Nilsen fulfills the most ambitious possibilities of the graphic novel as a medium. Rarely have images and words, form and function, been married so beautifully; his pages and panels bursting with innovative, jewel-like complexity and cascading, organic beauty. The story marries the erudite and the bawdy, political and mythical, violent and meditative, in ways that you find only in literature’s greatest: Utopia, Candide, Gulliver’s Travels, The Plague, The Castle, Cosmicomics, The Master and Margarita, White Noise. This book belongs in the pantheon.
Tongues, Volume 1 by Anders Nilsen, (List Price: $35, Pantheon, 9781524747206, March 2025)
Reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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Soma escalates before you know it as you’re thrown into the action! It’s gorgeous from its character design to its use of color. Can this comic book artist, who can’t be bothered, be persuaded to save the world from an alien invasion?
Soma by Fernando Llor, (List Price: $19.99, Oni Press, 9781637156124, February 2025)
Reviewed by Lana Repic, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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I tried so hard to NOT buy this book but I couldn’t resist this queer love story in a magical monster world that is a copy of the non-magical. We follow Sebastien as he begins school at a wizarding university and finally has the chance to learn how to use his powers after growing up with parents who don’t approve of magic or his being gay. We get to see him navigate a lot of new relationships and grow in his confidence that he belongs in this new world. Also, did I mention he made out with a beautiful stranger who he discovers lives in the same building as him?! I devoured this story and can’t wait to read more.
Les Normaux by Janine Janssen, (List Price: $22.99, Avon, 9780063414679, February 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Speak Up, Santiago! is so much more than a bilingual graphic novel. It’s a coming-of-age story that reveals the struggles of how to connect with different generations, break barriers within a new friend group, and build up self-esteem and confidence. The pure magic between the storytelling and illustrations helps readers understand the challenges of learning a second language. Readers will be cheering for Santiago as he finds a way to communicate both at home and on the pitch.
Speak Up, Santiago! by Julio Anta, (List Price: $13.99, Random House Graphic, 9780593651636, March 2025)
Reviewed by Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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Michael Kennedy’s comix are somewhere between jazz, surrealism, Greek tragedy and Krazy Kat. Suffused with the grain and pain of hard luck life, these strange tales dot along the timeline of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora like messages from the Gods drawn in blood and fruit juice.
Milk White Steed by Michael Kennedy, (List Price: $24.95, Drawn and Quarterly, 9781770467590, February 2025)
Reviewed by Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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What should be another routine crossing of the Atlantic for Emery, Neeta, and their ship/home, the S.S. Lark, turns deadly when new management steps in, their intentions…less than good. Perhaps even a little demonic. Robin’s debut graphic novel is enthralling; the artwork in this book alone should catch your eye, every panel crafted with great color sense, expression, emotion, and such dynamic textures.
Hunger’s Bite by Taylor Robin, (List Price: $24.99, Union Square & Co., 9781454950240, February 2025)
Reviewed by Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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