The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neil. Random House Graphic, 2023. 9780593182260. 272pp. O’Neil’s new graphic novel centers around Anya, who has chosen to become a Moth Keeper for her nocturnal village. Her duty is to make sure the moths, which pollinate the magical Night Flower tree once a year, don’t become lost. (Their magic helps the village survive.) It’s a cold, lonely life spending so much time outside the village, but Anya has lots of support, including her friend Estell, who is training to be a healer, and her mentor, Yeolen. I loved every character in the book, especially in how they reacted when Anya messed up. But my favorite character by far was the bird lady (the village leader) who tells stories from her library, which is written on her wings. This is a lovely, quiet, inclusive fantasy graphic novel about finding oneself and responsibility. And it’s full of anthropomorphic animal characters, love, and stories. Note: This book “was created on an iPad Pro with Procreate.” Plus there are preliminary sketches in the back. The art is as gorgeous as the story is kind. (You may know some of O’Neil’s previous work which includes The Tea Dragon Society series, Princes Princess Ever After, and the picture book in comics format, Dewdrop.)

Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish. Fantagraphics, 2022. 9781683966500. 208pp. Eliza is doing pretty well — she’s sober, dealing with the trauma of her abusive mother, and raising her son, Justin, alone. Talking about her problems at meetings helps. Her day job is okay but she shines at night when she performs her poetry. It’s after one of these performances that Sasha introduces herself. She’s young, intense, and very attracted to Eliza. Eliza keeps her at arm’s length, but maybe she should let her get closer. Or maybe that would be a huge mistake. (I’m still meditating on the title, but the men in the book include Eliza’s ex, who seems to be avoiding responsibility, her son Justin, who she’s doing her best to take care of, and an awful TV show host who Sasha sometimes dates for money.) This graphic novel is fully painted, as is Parish’s The Lie And How We Told It (2018), and it’s also full of realistic dialogue that really drew me in. Sasha and Eliza both have issues that had me rooting for both of them even as it felt like maybe they shouldn’t be hanging out together.

Pebble and Wren by Chris Hallbeck. Clarion Books, 2023. 9780358541288. 240pp. This graphic novel is an expanded, full-color version of Library Comic co-creator Chris Hallbeck’s all-ages webcomic, Pebble and Wren! I cannot recommend this webcomic enough — it has amazing characters, wonderful art, and a kindness that is pure Chris. It belongs in all libraries that have books for kids and families. It’s time for Pebble to leave his parents and go into the human world, and he’s a little freaked out. But he has to go in order to unlock his true monster skills. After wandering around for a bit he knocks on a door and meets Wren and her papa and her dad. They invite him to stay a while. Wren loves scary things, and lucky for Pebble she’s willing to coach him on what he should do. And lucky for Wren they have lots of food Pebble likes, otherwise he’d likely start eating the furniture. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and of Pebble trying to figure out what his special skills might be. My favorite part is the end (which I won’t give away), but this book has so many moments I love including: Pebble learning about the bones in the human body, Pebble and Wren’s Halloween costumes, and of course all of the bits about books and reading. You can still read the original Pebble and Wren webcomics starting at https://pebbleandwren.thebookofbiff.com/comic/1/ And make sure to check out Chris’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisHallbeck

Down To The Bone: A Leukemia Story by Catherine Pioli. Translated by J.T. Mahany. Graphic Mundi, 2022. 9781637790342. While trying to get treatment for her sciatica, Pioli was diagnosed with leukemia. She spent more than a month in the hospital starting treatment, which was followed by chemotherapy after she was able to go home. This is her story, from pain to diagnosis to telling her family and then enduring treatment. Throughout it all, she maintains a sense of humor and produces some amazing comics despite how much her strength deteriorates. The narrative, the information about leukemia, and the details about her treatment that the book shares all have a sense of hope that made the graphic novel’s abrupt ending, with a short text note about Pioli’s death in 2017, all the more devastating. I love how exact the illustrations feel, and in particular how she draws some people, objects, and backgrounds as colorless to emphasize other details and people. Plus I’m a fan of borderless panels which the book uses beautifully. Worth noting: there’s a wonderful “afterward,” a 10-page section on bone marrow transplants which is informative and encourages donation.

We The People! (Big Ideas That Changed The World) by Don Brown. Amulet, 2022. 9781419757389. 124pp. including notes on specific pages, which name sources for quotes (yay!), a selected bibliography, author’s notes, a fairly detailed index, a timeline, and a short biography of Abigail Adams. Brown’s history of American democracy is narrated by Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams. It begins thousands of years ago before there were countries (with a roast beef sandwich). (She’s a brilliant narrator, and she’s very well-positioned to comment on how men ruled.) The first leaders and the first cities (and Hammurabi’s Code) lead to monarchies, but Adams explains that even thousands of years ago there were republics in India, Africa, and Australia, which leads to a quick description of the republic in ancient Greece. This all takes up a little more than 20 pages of this fast-paced graphic nonfiction book, which makes a point of looking beyond common myths about the founding of the U.S. to point out its hypocrisies (slavery, treatment of Native Americans) and its many influences, like the Iroquois Confederacy. As with other books by Brown, it’s simply and effectively drawn, and it also cites its sources! Worth noting: this book is intended for kids, but I truly enjoyed reading it. Put a bunch of copies where students can find them. (Here’s hoping they read this book to their parents, who might enjoy it too.) Other books in the series deal with vaccinations and infectious diseases, rockets, and computers. https://www.abramsbooks.com/series-big-ideas-that-changed-the-world/

Best Friends by Shannon Hale, artwork by LeUyen Pham. First Second, 2019. 9781250317469. I’m a huge fan of Hale’s Rapunzel graphic novel and her Princess in Black series, which Pham illustrates. But for no good reason it took an overwhelming amount of library folks telling me how great Hale’s autobiographical graphic novel series is to finally get me to pick one up. This, the second in the series, lives up to every positive thing everyone said about it. It’s 1985, and Shannon is working at a library in Salt Lake City. She feels like she’s not quite a kid anymore, and her friends are as excited as she is to be starting sixth grade (and middle school). The most popular girl decides to share a locker with Shannon, and Shannon even tries to be friendly to a girl who used to bully her. (The latter doesn’t seem to be working out so well.) As some of the girls in her group start playing strange friendship games, Shannon isn’t sure when it’s okay to act silly or who is really her friend. Writing stories gives her a chance to escape the issues a bit, but mostly her “friends” cause her a lot of anxiety. I’m shelving this one next to Svetlana Chmakova’s Berrybrook Middle School graphic novels.

Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser adaptation and script by Howard Chaykin, pencils by Mike Mignola, Inks by Al Williamson, colors by Sherlyn van Valkenburgh, and letters by Michael Heisler. Dark Horse, 2007. 9781593077136. Originally published by Marvel Epic in 1991. I remember trying to read this graphic novel adaptation in my 20s and I didn’t get it. But I just reread it and now I plan to seek out Leiber’s books and stories to read more. Maybe there’s something about being older that makes this buddy book more appealing. Or maybe it’s that I’ve read so many crappy sword and sorcery books lately that my brain is relieved to finally find a good one. The dialogue is excellent, as are the layouts. This is pre-Hellboy work by Mignola, and it’s fun to see how Williamson’s inking changes the tone of his art vs. when Mignola inks his own work. Inside there’s evil wizardry, beautiful women, booze, and way too many rats for my wife, so I’m not going to try to get her to read it. But if you’re in the mood for a dark, swashbuckling tale that is both humorous and horrific, I urge you to track down a copy. Worth noting: My copy of this book belonged to my writing mentor, the all around great guy and librarian extraordinaire Frank Denton, who passed away last year. Frank introduced me to Leiber and many other science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writers that I still love, and deepened my appreciation of their work. I hope each of you is lucky enough to know someone like Frank and his amazing wife Anna, who was my grade school librarian.