Absolute Beginners is the second book in the Blue Monday series (after The Kids Are Alright), and the kids are going in costume to a 1930s-style mystery party. After some spilled wine, Bleu winds up caught naked on videotape, and the rest of the story explores her conflicting emotions. It’s hard enough being a teenager without feeling literally exposed to your entire high school. Her reactions nicely round out her character, showing her to be more than just a foul-mouthed […]

Chynna Clugston’s Blue Monday tells tales about post-punk, hormonally driven teenagers. Bleu Finnegan loves music, especially Britpop, and movies, especially silent films. She’s boy-crazy about pop stars but can’t stand the local dorks. She doesn’t fit in with the popular crowd, so she’s made her own, with friends Clover and Erin and a couple of boys who have crushes on them. This first book in the series revolves around trying to win tickets to an Adam Ant concert, a crush […]

Debby runs a vintage clothing shop, while Binny has a passion for used books. After fooling around at a party, they begin dating and trying to share their lives with each other. They both see stories in their hobbies, in the ways the books and clothes they acquire were changed and used by their owners. They’re very observant of the details of their property, while not noticing the most obvious signs about each other. Their respective passions sometimes get in […]

Andi Watson’s Breakfast After Noon tells the slice-of-life story of a British couple trying to deal with becoming unemployed. The Windsor Pottery, the town’s industry, has closed down, throwing Rob and Louise out of work. Not only are they worrying about everyday bills, but before the change, they’d been planning their wedding, adding another source of stress to their relationship. Rob learns some basic economics as he comes to terms with the idea that he’s not getting his job back. […]

In Skinwalker, an FBI agent, just promoted to the profiling unit, investigates the disappearance of his first partner after a panicked phone call. Ann Adakai, a Navajo Tribal Police officer struggling with the conflict between respected tradition and law enforcement methods, finds herself aiding him. This graphic novel was written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir with pencils by Brian Hurtt and digital inking by Arthur Dela Cruz. Skinwalking is a term for Navajo witchcraft, but someone’s been taking it […]