We’re living in a bonanza period for graphic novels — there are comics for everyone, including those who might be interested in, in this case, a young adult Western with queer and trans characters. Stage Dreams is an historical adventure in which Flor, a legendary outlaw with a trained hawk, robs a stagecoach and kidnaps Grace, a trans lady running away from having to become a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. Grace wants to make it from Georgia to […]

In Sincerely, Harriet by Sarah W. Searle, Harriet is spending the summer getting used to her family’s new apartment in Chicago. It’s hot and boring, with her parents working hard at new jobs and the girls from last year’s summer camp ignoring her postcards. The only person she interacts with is the older woman downstairs. Pearl owns the building and tells tales of her family. Pearl was also a librarian, and she recommends books to Harriet that interest her more […]

This volume, the eighth in the My Boyfriend Is a Monster series, is a bit different from the others. Oh, like the other books, A Match Made in Heaven is still completely predictable in the development of its romance, from the “he’s different, which makes him attractive” introduction to the eventual end of the relationship. (Because really, human girls and supernatural beings? not meant to last.) Plus, there’s a really over-the-top threat, so the pair have something to fight, that […]

Wrapped Up in You is the sixth in the “My Boyfriend Is a Monster” series. I’ve previously written about most of the other volumes: Made for Each Other — Frankenstein’s Monster My Boyfriend Bites — Vampire Under His Spell — Faerie I Date Dead People — Ghost As you might guess from Wrapped Up in You, the monster this time is Mummy. Only it’s not some grody guy in dirty linen, but a reincarnated Incan prince raised from the dead […]

After vampires, fairies, and Frankensteinian monsters, this installment of the supernatural romance series gets back to the classics: ghosts. Nora and her family have moved into a new home that’s also a landmark, the prior home of a writer. Odd things start happening — the TV comes on by itself, small items go missing — until Nora sees Tom, a boy about her age who died over a century ago. He’s not the only ghost in the house, though, and […]

As expected (and suggested by the title structure), Lily Renée, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer falls squarely in the category of inspirational biographies for young people. It’s written by Trina Robbins with pencils by Anne Timmons and inks by mo oh. We read, in clear, straightforward text, about how Lily Renée grew up privileged in Vienna, Austria, until the Nazis invaded. I was impressed by how Trina Robbins explains a horrific situation — planned genocide — […]

After enjoying Made for Each Other and being disappointed by Under His Spell, I had put off reading this entry in the My Boyfriend Is a Monster series because it was about vampires. After all, there have been SO many teen vampire romances lately, they’re their own trend. I shouldn’t have worried. My Boyfriend Bites is another enjoyable entry in the series, with its own twists and unusual takes on the genre. The main improvement is the heroine, Vanessa. Instead […]

I enjoyed one of the books in this series so much, I thought I’d try another one. Under His Spell pairs Bethany, a determined soccer player praised for avoiding “boy-based distractions”, with a foreign transfer student who turns out to be a fairy prince. It’s written by Marie P. Croall and illustrated by Hyeondo Park. Allein has been sent to our world to hide from a war over the inheritance of the throne, but his cousin has led a band […]