Graphic Memoirs

"Born in Texas to Korean immigrants, Eddie grew up with the expectation to pay off his parents' sacrifice by achieving the "American Dream." Yet, years later, after moving to San Francisco and earning a coveted law degree, he rejects a lucrative legal career to enter the nonprofit world, igniting a struggle between family obligations, professional goals, and dreams of community. Working at a nonprofit, Eddie confronts environmental catastrophes, an accelerating tide of racial prejudice and economic inequality, and burnout. Yet, he also finds moments of hope, and learns the balance of living a meaningful life and an empowered one in the process. Beautifully illustrated and deeply contemplative, Advocate weaves humorous anecdotes and stories of perseverance and optimism into a powerful graphic memoir."-- Publisher's description.

"As a child living in exile during the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei often found himself with nothing to read but government-approved comic books. Although they were restricted by the confines of political propaganda, Ai Weiwei was struck by the artists' ability to express their thoughts on art and humanity through graphic storytelling. Now, decades later, Ai Weiwei and Italian comic artist Gianluca Costantini present Zodiac, Ai Weiwei's first graphic memoir. Inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and their associated human characteristics, Ai Weiwei masterfully interweaves ancient Chinese folklore with stories of his life, family, and career. The narrative shifts back and forth through the years--at once in the past, present, and future--mirroring memory and our relationship to time. As readers delve deeper into the beautifully illustrated pages of Zodiac, they will find not only a personal history of Ai Weiwei and an examination of the sociopolitical climate in which he makes his art, but a philosophical exploration of what it means to find oneself through art and freedom of expression."--Amazon.

"A portrayal in graphic novel format of the author's battle with auditory hallucinations, depicted as a monster, and his journey to understand and cope with his illness"-- Provided by publisher.

In the tradition of graphic memoirs such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, comes the story of a young Iranian woman's struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran. NYLON ROAD is a window into the soul of a culture that we are still struggling to understand. Beautifully told, poignant, this is a powerful work about the necessity of freedom.

This heartrending graphic memoir by Alyssa Bermudez (Big Apple Diaries) is a moving and unforgettable story about inner strength, healing, and finding hope. It's 2002, and 14-year-old Alyssa is a freshman at a new high school where she knows NO ONE and the uniforms are hideous! What a disaster... Even worse? Her parents are forcing her to join the cross-country team. No one needs to run, or sweat, this much! Over time though, Alyssa actually starts to like running. She's getting better with practice, and some of the girls on the team are really nice. Alyssa begins to find a steady rhythm with high school, cross country, and her new stepfamily. But Alyssa's dad is sick, and she doesn't know what to do. When the worst thing imaginable happens, Alyssa will need to count on her friends, family, and herself to keep running forward.

"During Will Betke-Brunswick's sophomore year of college, their beloved mother, Elizabeth, is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. They only have ten more months together, which Will documents in evocative two-color illustrations. But as we follow Will and their mom through chemo and hospital visits, their time together is buoyed by laughter, jigsaw puzzles, modern art, and vegan BLTs. In a delightful twist, Will portrays their family as penguins, and their friends are cast as a menagerie of birds. In between therapy and bedside chats, they navigate uniquely human challenges, as Will prepares for math exams, comes out as genderqueer, and negotiates familial tension. A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings is an act of loving others and loving oneself, offering a story of coming-of-age, illness, death, and life that announces the arrival of a talented storyteller in Will Betke-Brunswick. At its heart, Will's story is a celebration of a mother-child relationship filled with unconditional devotion, humor, care, and openness"-- Provided by publisher.

"Brave, witty and empowering, this graphic memoir follows Rebecca as she navigates her asexual identity and mental health in a world obsessed with sex. From school to work to relationships, this book offers an unparalleled insight into asexuality."-- Provided by publisher.

"New Yorker cartoonist and author of Murder Book Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell returns with a riotous and radically candid comic memoir about snacks, connection, and developing a taste for freedom."--Amazon.

A graphic biography about a woman who lives a vital and fulfilling artistic life after a rare disease left her blind.

"Passing for Human is what Finck calls 'a neurological coming-of-age story,' one in which, through her childhood, human connection proved elusive and her most enduring relationships were with plants and rocks and imaginary friends; in which her mother was an artist whose creative life had been stifled by an unhappy first marriage and a deeply sexist society that seemed expressly designed to snuff out creativity in women; in which her father was a doctor who struggled in secret with the guilt of having passed his own form of otherness on to his daughter; and in which, as an adult, Finck finally finds her shadow again--and, with it, her true self."--Inside dust jacket.

"Author and illustrator Siobhán Gallagher's humorous and heartfelt graphic memoir details her journey from being anxious and unhappy to learning to love herself as she is. "I'm proud of the person I've become because I fought to become her." At the age of 30, Siobhán Gallagher looks back on her teenage years struggling with anxiety and diet culture, desperate to become a beautiful, savvy, and slim adult. As an actual adult, she realizes she hasn't turned out the way she'd imagined, but through the hard work of self-reflection--cut with plenty of humor--Gallagher brings readers along on her journey to self-acceptance and self-love. Through witty comics and striking illustrations, Full of Myself is a highly relatable story of the awkward, imperfect, and hilariously honest teenage best friend readers will wish they had had--and the awkward, imperfect, and hilariously honest woman she becomes."--Publisher.

Seamlessly toggling between past and present, this funny graphic memoir follows a queer Chinese American's immigration to Texas where she just wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why she is attracted to girls.

"When Nicole Georges was two years old, her family told her that her father was dead. When she was twenty-three, a psychic told her he was alive. Her sister, saddled with guilt, admits that the psychic is right and that the whole family has conspired to keep him a secret. Sent into a tailspin about her identity, Nicole turns to radio talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger for advice-- Calling Dr. Laura tells the story of what happens to you when you are raised in a family of secrets, and what happens to your brain (and heart) when you learn the truth from an unlikely source"--Publisher's web site.

The author describes her life with her misbehaved dog, a pet that saw her through many changes in life over the course of fifteen years.

"I Was Their American Dream is at once a coming-of-age story and a reminder of the thousands of immigrants who come to America in search for a better life for themselves and their children. The daughter of parents with unfulfilled dreams themselves, Malaka navigated her childhood chasing her parents' ideals, learning to code-switch between her family's Filipino and Egyptian customs, adapting to white culture to fit in, crushing on skater boys, and trying to understand the tension between holding onto cultural values and trying to be an all-American kid. Malaka Gharib's triumphant graphic memoir brings to life her teenage antics and illuminates earnest questions about identity and culture, while providing thoughtful insight into the lives of modern immigrants and the generation of millennial children they raised. Malaka's story is a heartfelt tribute to the American immigrants who have invested their future in the promise of the American dream"--Publisher's description.

"An intimate graphic memoir about an American girl growing up with her Egyptian father's new family, forging unexpected bonds and navigating adolescence in an unfamiliar country."-- Provided by publisher

"Lewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she's confused about who to snog. He knows she's really a he and will ultimately realize this. But she's going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this ... but she can't quite hear him yet. In [this book], Lewis Hancox takes readers on the hilarious, heartbreaking, and healing path he took to make it past trauma, confusion, hurt, and dubious fashion choices in order to become the man he was meant to be."--Back cover.

"A graphic memoir-in-essays interweaving critical research and personal experience to examine the in-betweenness of being mixed-race Asian American and the cultural confrontations inherent to forging one's identity."-- Provided by publisher.

"Tessa Hulls delves into her own family history and the intergenerational trauma caused by mental illness and political strife"-- Provided by publisher.

"As a second-generation Pakistani immigrant living in East London, Sabba Khan paints a vivid snapshot of contemporary British Asian life and investigates the complex shifts experienced by different generations within immigrant communities, creating an uplifting and universal story that crosses borders and decades. Race, gender, and class are explored in a compelling personal narrative creating a strong feminist message of self-reflection and empowerment which is illuminated in stunning artwork."-- Provided by publisher.

"If you work hard enough, if you want it enough, if you're smart and talented and "good enough," you can do anything. Except get pregnant. Her whole life, Lucy Knisley wanted to be a mother. But when it was finally the perfect time, conceiving turned out to be harder than anything she'd ever attempted. Fertility problems were followed by miscarriages, and her eventual successful pregnancy plagued by health issues, up to a dramatic, near-death experience during labor and delivery. This moving, hilarious, and surprisingly informative memoir not only follows Lucy's personal transition into motherhood but also illustrates the history and science of reproductive health from all angles, including curious facts and inspiring (and notorious) figures in medicine and midwifery. Whether you've got kids, want them, or want nothing to do with them, there's something in this graphic memoir to open your mind and heart."--Amazon

"A graphic novel memoir recounting one parent's unique and wrenching journey caring for a child with a terminal diagnosis. When Rick and Emily's infant son Ronan is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, an incurable neurological disorder, they are faced with the practical and emotional hurdles of parenting and loving their son--despite the shadow of inevitable loss. Rick Louis narrates this original graphic memoir, with illustrator Lara Antal translating the space that Ronan occupies before, during, and after his life, using flights of fancy and imagination to express the bizarre, heartbreaking, and sometimes even silly reality of human beings suddenly trapped in an impossible situation"-- Provided by publisher.

"A Japanese American college student reconnects with her roots in Tokyo, Japan, while wrestling with feelings of loneliness, depression, and cultural identity confusion"-- Provided by publisher.

"A heartfelt and funny graphic novel memoir by one of the first Black female cartoonists to be published in the New Yorker, at the age of 22"-- Provided by publisher.

"Drawing from original interviews with the author, Holler is an illustrated look at six inspiring changemakers. Denali Nalamalapu, a climate organizer in their own right, introduces readers to the ordinary people who became resisters of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project that spans approximately 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia -- a teacher, a single mother, a nurse, an organizer, a photographer, and a seed keeper. In West Virginia, Becky Crabtree, grandmother of five, chains herself to her 1970s Ford Pinto to stop construction from destroying her farm. Farther south, in Virginia, young organizer Michael James Deramo organizes mutual aid to support community members showing up to protest the pipeline expansion. These (and more) are the stories of everyday resistance that show what difference we can make when we stand up for what we love, and stand together in community. When the world tells these resisters to sit down and back off, they refuse to give up."--Amazon.

"In this intimate and defiantly hopeful graphic novel memoir, the author shares their journey to find a home within themself, taking readers through the experiences and everyday moments that all led up to them finding the term "nonbinary," which finally struck a chord.

"Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is an act of self-discovery and the resuscitation of historical memory. At its heart is the intersection of a genocidal political moment in 20th century history and the author's own family history. Told from the perspectives of four generations of the author's family, spanning pre-war Germany to post-Trump America, it is both a celebration of Jewish cultural resilience and a warning of democracy's fragility in the face of the seductive forces of authoritarianism. Part travelogue, part memoir, part historic retelling, author Ari Richter recreates his family's journey leading up to and extending beyond the Holocaust. Relying on extensive genealogical research and his family's archiving, Richter illustrates the lives of his grandparents while reflecting on the burden of a storyteller to carry on these legacies. It is a rare glimpse into the firsthand stories of both Holocaust survivors and their descendants, told as an intertwined tapestry of faith, grief, and ultimately, survival. Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is an intimate reflection on coming to grips with the past. Harrowing and humorous in equal measure, this evocatively drawn graphic novel will be discussed for generations to come."--Amazon.com.

Survivor Amy Rose recounts her upbringing in an abusive cult which forbade independent learning, and how she discovered books in a secret library that opened up her world and inspired her to escape.--Publisher.

"In striking, virtuoso graphic style that captures both the immediacy of childhood and the fervor of political idealism, Riad Sattouf recounts his nomadic childhood growing up in rural France, Gaddafi's Libya, and Assad's Syria--but always under the roof of his father, a Syrian Pan-Arabist who drags his family along in his pursuit of grandiose dreams for the Arab nation. Riad, delicate and wide-eyed, follows in the trail of his mismatched parents; his mother, a bookish French student, is as modest as his father is flamboyant. Venturing first to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab State and then joining the family tribe in Homs, Syria, they hold fast to the vision of the paradise that always lies just around the corner. And hold they do, though food is scarce, children kill dogs for sport, and with locks banned, the Sattoufs come home one day to discover another family occupying their apartment. The ultimate outsider, Riad, with his flowing blond hair, is called the ultimate insult... Jewish. And in no time at all, his father has come up with yet another grand plan, moving from building a new people to building his own great palace. Brimming with life and dark humor, The Arab of the Future reveals the truth and texture of one eccentric family in an absurd Middle East, and also introduces a master cartoonist in a work destined to stand alongside Maus and Persepolis"-- Provided by publisher.

Describes the author's struggles with teenage depression and how a search for her missing cat becomes a search for herself.

In 2005 Andy Warner travelled to Lebanon to study literature in Beirut, one of the world's most cosmopolitan and storied cities. Twenty-one years old and recently broken up from his girlfriend, Warner feels his life is both intense and directionless. Immersing himself in the vibrant and diverse city, he quickly befriends a group of LGBT students, many of whom are ex-pats straddling different cultures and embracing the freedoms of the multicultural city. Warner and his friends party, do drugs, and hook up, even as violence breaks out in the city--the scars of a fifteen-year civil war reopening with a series of political assassinations and bombings. As the city descends into chaos and violence, Warner feels his grasp on reality slowly begin to slip as he confronts traumas in his past and anxiety over his future.