Gender: A Graphic Guide

Gender: A Graphic Guide is a great teaching tool and resource.

In this illustrated guide, Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele travel through our shifting understandings of gender across time and space – from ideas about masculinity and femininity, to non-binary and trans genders, to intersecting experiences of gender, race, sexuality, class, disability and more. 

Tackling current debates and tensions, which can divide communities and even cost lives, Barker and Scheele look to the past and the future to explore how we might all approach gender in more caring and celebratory ways.

 Is masculinity ‘toxic’? Why are public toilets such a political issue? How has feminism changed the available gender roles – and for whom? Why might we all benefit from challenging binary thinking about sex/gender?

Barker, Meg-John & Jules Scheele. (2019). Gender: A Graphic Guide. New York: Icon.

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham is a beautiful telling of a family's journey to a new home.

Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam.

After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity.

Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search—for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.

Pham, Thien. (2023). Family Style. New York: First Second.

Mooncakes

Teen witch Nova Huang lives with her grandmothers over their bookshop. When she hears about something odd in the woods, she goes to investigate. What she finds is her childhood friend, Tam Lang, in her werewolf form.

Tam is back to fight a demon in the woods. She has also run away from home to get away from her stepfather. She will stay with Nova while they figure out what to do.

Walker and Xu have created a great witch story. This graphic novel is based around a Chinese Jewish family, is queer, and a great read.

Walker, Suzanne & Wendy Xu. (2019). Mooncakes. ?: Roar.

Gender Queer: A Memoir

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe is a beautiful book - both visually and in the story.

Written about eir path to identifying as nonbinary and experiences about gender and sexuality through childhood. Maia wrote this book both as a master's project for eir MFA in Graphic Novels and as a way to explain nonbinary to parents and extended family. 

This is a beautiful memoir. One that will fill a hole in the stories about people with different experiences. It will give young people who may be genderqueer the gift of seeing themselves in a book - an experience that is much needed for everyone. 

There is no book quite like it. E does not shy away from any of the often difficult things that led em to identify as eir true self today. 

For a much more eloquent post about why this book is so amazing and important, click here. In the meantime, please make sure your local library owns a copy, both for people trying to understand a family member and those trying to communicate themselves to others. Thank you Maia for this gift.

Kobabe, Maia. (2019), Gender Queer: A Memoir. Portland: Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group.

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel is an illustrated memoir of her life using exercise as the viewpoint.

After a book on her father and one on her mother, Bechdel tells of her relationship to exercise as both a way of being in shape, following the latest fads, and breaking the gender norms of her childhood.

She looks for enlightenment and the exercise for her in her usual light but poignant way. 

Bechdel is the master of the graphic novel form. It is a high art to be able to convey so much in each panel - limited by space that leads to such succinct dialog.  

Bechdel, Alison. (2021). The Secret to Superhuman Strength. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui is a beautifully told story of her family history.

This is the story of a Vietnamese family from generations before the American war, to living in the United States to raise the next generation. 

Beginning with the birth of her first child - the first drawing is a very pregnant belly - Thi looks back at her family and their history as she takes on the role of teacher for the next generation. 

The history of Vietnam from colonization, war, politics to her family in a refugee camp and emigrating to the US, this is a beautifully told story of hardship and choices for a better life. 

This is an example of why immigration is beneficial to both the people leaving to start again, and the nation that receives their knowledge and different way of looking at things. Immigration makes a country stronger.

Bui, Thi. (2017). The Best We Could Do. New York: Abrams.

Lumberjanes

Lumberjanes by Noelle Steveson and Grace Ellis, drawn by Brooke Allen, is a great (award winning) YA graphic novel series.

Lumberjanes are campers at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types. Five of them who share a cabin and are great friends - Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley - can find adventure anywhere.

Along with a strong message of girl power, the Lumberjanes use the best curses, siting famous women including Bessie Coleman and Mae Jemison, and solving puzzles with the likes of the Fibonacci sequence.

Follow them on an Indiana-Jones-like adventure through woods stocked with wacky and dangerous creatures from Yeti to talking statues.

Three volumes are currently out in the Lumberjanes series:
1. Beware the Kitten Holy
2. Friendship to the Max
3. A Terrible Plan

Readers from ages 13 to 50 will enjoy this wonderful series.

Stevenson, Noelle and Grace Ellis. (2015). Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy. Los Angeles: Boom Box!

Honor Girl

Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash is an autobiographical graphic novel of the summer she figured out that she likes girls - and the first girl she loved.

Maggie spent every summer at Camp Bellflower for Girls in Appalachia. Most of the other girls at the camp are from Kentucky, but her parents drive her from Atlanta. Her mother and her grandmother went to Camp Bellflower and Maggie is sure that nothing has changed in the entire history of the camp.

Each morning the girls start their day with a Civil War reenactment, where they yell Gray and Blue at each other for twenty minutes. The girls are separated by age and choose activities for the summer. Maggie is improving her shooting skills and is one of two girls competing for an award.

Maggie is joined by a cast of girls, from her best friend Shannon, to her new friend Tennis Bethany, to her first love Erin, in this lovely coming out story. Thrash tells her story with wit and sensitivity. Though it has a different feel, fans of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home will delight this novel.

Thrash, Maggie. (2015). Honor Girl. New York: Candlewick Press.

Batwoman: Elegy

Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka, drawings by JH Williams, is Batwoman re-imagined by a genius. After a break in the series, due to the main character being stabbed in the heart, Rucka has brought back a great superhero and made her better.

Katherine Rebecca Kane is Batwoman. The path she took to get there is told in flashbacks through the book. Kate grew up in a military family. When she was young, she and her twin sister, along with their mother were in a car accident. It was a kidnapping. Her mother and sister were killed. After that, she vowed to follow in her father's footsteps and join the military to help make the world a better place.

Kate was on her way to becoming a fine soldier, but was separated from the military under Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 125, known as don't ask and don't tell. Because of the honor code, Kate could not lie and say she was not guilty of being a lesbian.

It was still a long journey from the military to becoming Batwoman, and Rucka and Williams tell it with style and depth. I am not usually a fan of graphic novels or comics, but this series is awesome. Continue after Elegy with: Vol 1: Hydrology; Vol 2: To Drown the World; Vol. 3: World's Finest; and Vol. 4: This Blood is Thick.

Rucka, Greg. (2010). Batwoman: Elegy. New York: DC Comics.

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel volume 1, No Normal by G. Willow Wilson, and artist Adrian Alphona is the latest version of Ms. Marvel.

Kamala Khan is a New Jersey teen. She is a Pakistani-American Muslim who is a fangirl. She loves the Avengers. She is a normal teen until she sneaks out for a party one night after her parents tell her she cannot go to a party with boys and alcohol.

After just a few minutes at the party, she agrees that it is not a party for her. As she is leaving a strange fog descends on the town. She passes out, has a vision of the Avengers and wakes up with superpowers she doesn't know how to control.

At first Kamala appears to be Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. But once she realizes she can shape shift, she can find a look that fits with who she is better. A look that fits within her ideals and beliefs.

Wilson's Ms. Marvel is a more diverse character than the traditional superhero comic character. Kamala is great and the first book is about identity. If you are a fan of graphic novels or strong female characters read this series.

Wilson, G. Willow (2014). Ms. Marvel: No Normal. New York: Marvel Now.

Volume 2: Generation Why
Volume 3: Crushed

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks is the story of high school and what happens when the school leaves it up to the student council to decide who gets the limited funding - the cheerleaders or the robotics club.

Charlie is minding his own business when his neighbor and classmate informs him that the school doesn't have enough money for both new cheerleader uniforms and the national robotics competition. Since Charlie used to date the head cheerleader, Nate thinks he needs to hear the unjust story of it all.

When Nate decides to run for school council president so he can vote where to use the money, the cheerleaders decide to elect Charlie. As the captain of the basketball team, he is popular and they think he will vote their way - because he is scared of them.

Creative ways to get money for both projects lead to compromise and working together - for groups that do not mix at most schools. Shen and Hicks have written a fun read that graphic novel readers will enjoy.

Shen, Prudence and Faith Erin Hicks. (2013). Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong. New York: First Second Books.

Boxers and Saints

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang is his two book series about the Boxer Rebellion in China - each from a different point of view.


Boxers is told from the point of view of Little Bao. Bao is from a traditional Chinese village. His first encounter with a foreigner is when a group of men come to "get justice" for someone by stealing vegetables. While they are there they smash a deity who protects the village.

This leads Little Bao to train to fight and eventually form the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist - traveling from village to village defending people. They call upon the spirits of the gods to save China.

Saints is from the point of view of  Four-girl. She never fit in with her family and decides to become a devil. Since she doesn't know how to become a devil, she talks to a man called a foreign devil, who is a priest. When she hears of a group of men roaming the countryside killing missionaries, priests and Chinese Christians she knows she is destined to be a warrior woman like Joan of Arc.

Bao and Four-girl meet twice in the books which tell their stories in parallels. Yang is a master of the graphic novel - capturing so much with so few words and beautiful illustrations. For a study guide visit goodokbad.

Yang, Gene Luen. (2013). Boxers. New York: First Second.

Yang, Gene Luen. (2013). Saints. New York: First Second.

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is his second book in the style of combining story with storyboards. His first book in this style, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, won both the Newbery Award and the Caldecot Medal - the highest honors in children's literature for both story and illustrations. However, don't let the fact that this book is marketed for children prevent you from reading it. It is amazing.

Wonderstruck is the story of two people. One, Rose, lives in New Jersey in 1927. Her story is told in the illustrations. She can see the New York skyline from her house and creates wonderful miniatures of the buildings she can see outside.

In the text part is the story of Ben. Ben lives in Gunflint, Minnesota in 1977. He is a boy whose mother has just died. He is living with this aunt, uncle and cousin. They live next door to the cabin he and his mom lived in.

The stories of Rose and Ben overlap in interesting ways. Without giving away any spoilers, they both run away from home at a young age and find themselves in New York City - at the Museum of Natural History.

Selznick has created a brilliant narrative and a story that will delight readers of all ages. Selznick has been known as a great illustrator for years. But now that he is writing and illustrating his own books, readers should watch for anything he publishes! Wonderstruck is my new favorite book!

Selznick, Brian. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York: Scholastic Press.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch is the story of a Jewish girl who wants to fight dragons.

In Hereville everyone is Jewish - orthodox Jewish - where roles for men and women are prescribed by tradition. So even though her time is spent being taught to knit by her step-mother, eleven year-old Mirka's real desire is to fight dragons.

Deutsch has created a graphic novel that explains about Judaism through this beautiful tale of courage and finding ones place in the world. The illustrations are beautiful and the Yiddish words are defined at the bottom of each page. A great read for Jews, fans of graphic novels, fans of strong female protagonists, and anyone who has even wanted to fight dragons.

Deutsch, Barry. (2010). Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. New York: Amulet Books.

Rapunzel's Revenge

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale, is a reworking of the Rapunzel fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Instead of being rescued by a prince like in the original story. In Hale's version, Rapunzel is raised by Mother Gothel. She lives in an enchanted garden that is tended by Gothel's growth magic.

One day she realizes what is on the other side of the wall that encloses the garden. What she finds shocks her. People have been forced into slavery to support Mother Gothel.

When Rapunzel tells Gothel that she wants to leave she is locked in a tower tree where she will stay until she learns to like her life. The tree is infected with the growth magic that makes Rapunzel's hair grow to absurd lengths.

Rapunzel uses her hair to escape the tree and find her way to the slave mines to find her real mother. She must fight her way across the old west to reach her destination and will need the help of a new friend to make it.

Hale, Shannon and Dean. (2008). Rapunzel's Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury.

Janes in Love (Plain Janes #2)

Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg is the sequel to The Plain Janes.

The members of PLAIN still want to create public art, but Jane is starting to feel like all of her ideas get people into trouble. Soon all but one member of the group is doing community service.

To try another track, PLAIN appeals to city council for permission to create an art installation that everyone can enjoy. The council, most of whom think that PLAIN is a group of young terrorists, deny their request.

But art cannot be stopped. Jane will find a way not only to create public art but find funding to begin larger projects. After all, there are some people in town who thing the art they create is beautiful.

Castellucci, Cecil. (2008). Janes in Love. New York: Minx Comics.

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, illustrated by Jim Rugg, is the story of the cool kids at school.

When Jane's parents move her to the middle of nowhere after she survive a bombing, she doesn't want to be the same oblivious teen she was before. She cuts her hair, remakes herself and ignores the popular kids for the table of outcasts.

Each of the three outcasts is also named Jane (or Jayne). Jane (the main character) has an idea to create a statement. She forms the P.L.A.I.N - People Loving Art in Neighborhoods - and convinces the other Janes to join her.

Soon the town is calling P.L.A.I.N. art exhibits "attacks" and the Janes hare in danger of being arrested.

This graphic novel is a refreshing look at self-expression in a positive way that can affect a whole community. It also started a new imprint at DC Comics - for teen girls. Look for the sequel: Janes in Love.

Castellucci, Cecil. (2007). The Plain Janes. New York: Minx Comics.

Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores (Y #10)

Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra is the final book in the Y series about a plague that kills all males on the planet except one man and his pet monkey.

Now that the technology is available to save humans from becoming extinct, Yorick's only goal is to find the woman he plans to marry. He has not seen Beth in six years, since the plague began.

But something is holding Yorick back. Could it be that although he loves Beth he is in love with someone else? Someone he has spent the last six years with?

This finals volume looks into the future when the boys cloned by Dr. Allison Mann begin to take their place in a society dominated by women.

Vaughan, Brian and Pia Guerra. (2007). Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores. New York: D.C. Comics.

Y The Last Man: Motherland (Y #9)

Y The Last Man: Motherland by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra is the ninth book in the Y series.

After following the train of Yorick's monkey Ampersand to China, Yorick, Allison, 355, and Rose (Allison's girlfriend) are captured by the evil Dr. M. Dr. M has broken through and successfully cloned a human. In fact, the doctor has a herd of cloned children.

Once they escape, 355 and Yorick are off to Paris to find Beth. Yorick has not seen Beth in almost 6 years, but knows she is looking for him, too. Hero, Yorick's sister, is also on her way to Paris to look for Beth.

Allison and Rose will begin repopulating the planet with clones of Yorick.

Vaughan, Brian and Pia Guerra. (2006). Y The Last Man: Motherland. New York: D.C. Comics.

Y The Last Man: Kimono Dragons (Y #8)

Y The Last Man: Kimono Dragons by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra is the eighth book in the Y series.

The group is in Japan looking for Yorick's money Ampersand. Amp was stolen by a ninja who appears to be working for an evil scientist.

Since they are so close Allison decides she should see her mother but when they approach her lab it is in flames. 355 and Yorick are tracking the signal from Ampersand's chip. It leads them to the new head of the Yakuza.

Back in Kansas, the Israeli army is after the first born child since the plague. As a result, Hero and Beth are on the run.

Vaughan, Brian and Pia Guerra. (2006). Y The Last Man: Kimono Dragons. New York: D.C. Comics.