The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond. Tordotcom, 2024. 9781250290311. 167pp. I love the cover of this book, and there seem to be shelf talkers praising it at every bookstore I visit (and it holds up to the hype). It’s the story of a female knight, Maddileh, out to regain her honor by claiming a legendary sword, the Fireborne Blade, from the lair of a dragon. Accompanying her is a page who seems a little…off. This is a quick, original take on the dungeon crawl (though it’s a cave here); alternating chapters recount historic encounters between knights and dragons.       We Speak Through The Mountain by Premee Mohamed. ECW, 2024. 9781770417335. 145pp. This sequel to Mohamed’s post-apocalyptic novella The Annual Migration of Clouds follows Reid as she enrolls in a university filled with technology and resources (and hidden from the rest of the world). Her relationship with the parasite that infects her changes because of the university’s medical tech. I loved seeing her and other students from the outside deal with the realities of life with technology and enough to eat, though it lacks many things, too. I really hope there’s another book or three coming in this series. This is my favorite novella of the year, but if it sounds good to you, start with the first book in the series.   The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht. Tor.com, 2019. 9781250225689. 160pp. This book has so much I enjoyed: a murderous immortal, an outlaw wizard, a polluted coastline straight out of Miéville’s New Crobuzon, dark legends, mutant sea creatures, bloody violence, and a fallen city that’s either about to rise again or is where the end of the world will begin. There’s an unlikely “romance” of sorts, too, if that’s your thing, as well as a horrific plague. I enjoyed every page of this novella, and I can’t believe I missed it when it was published.

So Long Sad Love by Mirion Malle. Translated by Aleshia Jensen. Drawn & Quarterly, 2024. 9781770466975. 204pp. This graphic novel opens with a scene where Cléo is considering having disappeared, how everything seems easier and how right the decision was. The rest of the book is about why she decided to disappear. it starts with her tabling at a small press comic show and hanging out with friends. She meets Farah Mahdi, who talks about joining a women-only collective that’s been helpful for her comics. During their conversation, it comes out that Cléo is dating Charles Mercier. Farah is shaken, and later, when Cléo talks with Charles, he’s worried about what Farah might have said about him. His behavior gets worse when he finds out Farah offered Cléo the opportunity to publish some of her work in a magazine. What happens next feels honest and real. It’s worth noting the book ends on a positive note as Cléo’s life continues past that opening scene and she finds a community that suits her. Malle’s art is wonderful, and I particularly like the way her color choices and the way she draws characters work together to give a sense of who people are. (The book is mostly scenes of folks talking, so this is critical to its success.)

Camp Prodigy by Caroline Palmer. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. 9781665930383. 250pp. Tate goes to a concert to see nonbinary violist Eli Violet play, but Eli’s anxiety gets the better of them and they don’t perform. Tate, inspired to learn the viola, starts practicing; they’re also clearly trying to work up the courage to come out as nonbinary, too. Tate’s parents send them to Camp Prodigy, “A place for musicians, from beginner to advanced.” There they have to deal with other violists with a range of personalities. Best of all, Eli is there, and no one seems to know who they are except Tate. They become fast friends and Eli helps Tate improve. Much of the book is about Eli trying to find their comfort zone, and Tate trying to balance ambition and practice with other concerns, including when to come out to their fellow campers and family. This is a straightforward, intense story of friendship, anxiety, being oneself, and musicianship that will speak to many older elementary and middle school students in particular.

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Yang, art by Leuyen Pham. First Second, 2024. 9781250908261. 352pp. Val has a year to find true love, or Saint Valentine wants her heart. (Their friendship started off as an imaginary friend / real friend sort of situation back when he presented as a winged cherub, but later he appears to her as a creepy old spirit). The complications: Val’s sad father, who told her a huge lie; her grandmother, a pushy but hilarious woman who always wants to feed Val and take her to church; and a super cute guy who likes her but doesn’t really seem to want to be her boyfriend. Plus that guy has an awkward cousin, whom she once embarrassed (or something) with a Valentine. Along for the ride is Bernice, Val’s friend who dates lots of boys and draws on her shoes. There’s a ton about lion dancing in the book, which Val gets good at. Scenes of lion dancing, along with the rest of the graphic novel, prove that Pham is one of the best artists working in comics. I continue to enjoy YA romances occasionally, and this is my favorite of the year, a book I plan to gift to many folks on my list.

Danger and Other Unknown Risks by Ryan North and Erica Henderson. Penguin Workshop, 2023. 9780593224823. 206pp. This book opens with a cryptic trip to a big box store, and then a young woman (Marguerite) and her talking dog (Daisy) stealing an artifact called the Simian’s Paw. It’s the first magic totem on their list — there are two others — and if they get them the world will be saved. Or something. This a kinetic, lighthearted, post-apocalyptic graphic novel by the creative team behind Marvel’s Squirrel Girl. Worth noting: the book also has a toad, magic, a creepy uncle, and some time travel sort of stuff, too.    

The Heart Never Forgets written by Ana Ot, illustrated by Hayden Goodman. Atheneum Books For Young Readers, 2024. 978-1665913058 Every page of this book is visually stunning, including the endpapers. The story is about townspeople gathering for a masquerade as the narrator remembers her beloved grandfather. My favorite thing about this book is the costumes and how Goodman’s illustrations capture their dancing. It’s a beautiful book about loss.       The Rock in My Throat by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin. Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 9781728445687. This picture book is heartbreaking. Yang’s family’s first language was Hmong. They moved to the US as refugees from Thailand when she was young. This is forty-three-year-old Yang’s answer to why she became selectively mute in early grade school, and “wouldn’t speak in English voluntarily until…college.” (There’s a more detailed explanation in the author’s note at the end.) Lin’s illustrations are amazing at capturing and conveying everything from Yang’s withdrawal to the disrespect she and her parents suffered.     Creepy by Lee Sensenbrenner & Keiler Roberts. Drawn & Quarterly, 2022. 9781770466197. Roberts’ autobiographical family comics always make me laugh. In this story she draws herself as a creepy lady who only eats one thing (also creepy). It’s a fable warning kids not to pay too much attention to screens while ignoring the world around them.        

The Unlucky Kid by Bob Holt. Kids Can Press, 2024. 9781525306594 . 64pp. This graphic novel contains several short adventures featuring Quin, the titular Unlucky Kid. In the first, he goes to the beach with his favorite food and faces not only a crowd of hungry seagulls but a few less common problems. In the second, he’s eating corn on the cob when he discovers a loose tooth; his plan to have his dog help yank it out goes awry in an insane way. In the third, he goes fishing. Holt’s sense of humor is great and his art is even funnier.       The Great Puptective by Alina Tysoe. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024. 9781665938242. 124pp. One day Sasha the human brings her cat, Truffles, a new friend — an insane, overeager little dog named Poppy. He investigates mysteries that mostly aren’t mysteries at all, and he’s not just super annoying, he also gets Truffles in trouble. Hilarity ensues. I loved Tysoe’s drawings, particularly of the irritated, orange Truffles.       King of the World (Tater Tales) by Ben Clanton. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024. 9781534493216. 76pp. Rot (a mutant potato) loves spudlunking to find treasure. He finds a powerful crown that makes him feel like King of the World, and which makes everyone else believe it, too. (It also makes Rot behave kind of terribly, and it takes a while for him to realize that.) Clanton’s potato books are his silliest and my favorites. (And yeah, they have some regular old paragraphs in addition to drawings and word balloons, but they’re graphic novels.)      

Leftstar And The Strange Occurrence by Jean Fhilippe. Silver Sprocket, 2023. 9798886200317. 88pp. Leftstar has been working on marine life in their creation, but after waking up they can’t re-enter that creation to get back to work. In a forest they meet a giant bat who, having overheard Leftstar’s conversation with a friend about what’s going on, takes Leftstar to someone who may be able to help. The magical setting is unexplained, the world feels gentle, and there are a bunch of scenes that feel like asides but that totally work. Fhilippe’s art is the star, as is the atmosphere it helps create. (Its tone reminds me of Jessi Zabarsky’s comics in the best way.)    

Gary King of the Pickup Artists by Alexandre Simard and Luc Bossé. Translated from French by Alexandre Simard with Rupert Bottenberg. Pow Pow Press, 2017. 97829240433. 150pp. Gary is awkward, and it doesn’t go well when he tries to meet women he’s attracted to. His friend Mike has a lot more confidence, and it serves him well though it also makes him a dick. These are their adventures and misadventures in Montreal’s dating scene. The book is mostly people chatting, which works well because the way Bossé draws the characters makes them fun to look at. And for me the book, like all of Pow Pow’s best, provides a sense of what life in Montreal is like that supplements the vacations I’ve spent there. (My other favorite books from Pow Pow are Zivane’s For As Long As It Rains and Hellman’s Mile End.) You can see more of Pow Pow’s graphic novels at https://powpowpress.com/shop/  I bought this one at my favorite comic shop, Cosmic Monkey in Portland, Oregon, which stocks a selection of Pow Pow titles and many other hard-to-find, small press graphic novels. I highly recommend stopping by.

Continental Drifter by Kathy Macleod. First Second, 2024. 9781250813732. 218pp including an afterward, photos of Kathy and her family, and comics that she drew when she was a kid. Kathy and her older sister Jennie grew up in Thailand where they were raised by older parents (their dad is a retired US soldier, their mother a Thai businesswoman). They attended international schools where they were educated in English. Their family also spent some summers in Maine with their father’s family. A lot of the book is about Kathy not feeling like she fit in, no matter where she is. It also explores the way her family didn’t talk about the past and so often kept their feelings from each other. Some people thought Kathy’s dad was her grandfather. In Thailand after friend’s brother told her she wasn’t American, Kathy started to look forward to going to Maine, where she would be attending summer camp for the first time. (She also started keeping a diary as she began her countdown to the Maine trip.) In Maine, though, she and her family were clearly different from those around them. Despite a group of loving relatives there, it wasn’t always a great experience. But camp wasn’t a complete and utter disaster, either. There’s a lot to love about this book. It feels like the kind of story that might open up some kids’ eyes about how they treat others, especially how questioning and excluding kids can make them feel like they don’t belong. I’m a huge fan of Kathy’s warm and welcoming camp counselor. And I loved the fart jokes, her relationship with her dad, the bits about Thai culture, and the cringy moment when her mom gave her a special something to take with her to camp.