Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear (based on a true adventure) written by Trang Nguyen, Illustrated by Jeet Zdung. Dial Books For Young Readers, 2020. 120pp. 9780593353639. Chang is a wildlife conservationist who’s trying to teach Sorya, a young sun bear, how to survive in the wild. Chang decided on her career when she was young, when she witnessed bile being cruelly harvested from a moon bear. She studied to pursue her dream, ignoring those who spoke out against her choice (including some who said girls were too weak to do such work). Eventually she started working at the Bear Rescue Center where she met Sorya. This book is based on Nguyen’s life and experiences, and has a very “you can follow your dreams too” tone. My favorite parts are Chang’s journal entries and drawings, which show her observations and quite a bit about why she loves her career. The rest of Zdung’s drawings are also amazing, and he’s particularly great at bringing animals to life.   The Hunger Heroes: Missed Meal Mayhem by Jarrett Lerner. (A Graphic Novel Chapter Book). Aladdin, 2021. 128pp. 9781534462823. The Hunger Heroes are Mr. Toots (a brave bean), Chip Ninja (a corn chip with a lot of gadgets), Tammy (a sassy tomato), and Leonard (a nervous wedge of orange cheese). They set off to help Jason, an elementary school student who missed breakfast and who is in a class where the teacher doesn’t allow snacks. Their hovercraft is shaped like a taco. This is a bit of silly fun, and it’s pro snacks-in-class message is sure to irritate certain teachers.

Young Shadow (A Double+ Adventure) by Ben Sears. Fantagraphics, 2021. 126pp. 9781683964124. Young Shadow is a masked hero who patrols the futuristic Bolt City looking for crimes to thwart and the opportunity to help out. After he comes across a group of young people drinking in the park, he tries to free their mistreated dog. There’s a fight reminiscent of one of Daredevil’s, because YS fights with a club. Throughout much of the rest of the book YS tries to do right by the dog, first getting it the care it needs, then trying to find it a home. There’s a superheroic storyline as well, with YS dealing with corrupt cops. But he’s also the kind of hero who does deliveries for the food bank when he has time. This book has a great tone, and Sears’ art feels very analog — the future he draws is lumpy, without any perfectly straight lines. And this book’s art is black and white and orange, with lots of “air brushed” spots for texture. It all adds to the everyday charm of Young Shadow as a hero at the center of a community of folks who look out for each other. I’d put this in the YA section of the library for superhero comic fans to discover. The fact that it doesn’t read like a Marvel movie will surprise some of them in the best way possible.

Barb The Last Berzerker Book 1 by Dan & Jason. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021. 9781534485716. 250pp. Berzerkers fight an endless war with monsters to protect the land of Bailiwick. They have badass names like Thunder and Claymore. Barb is the youngest and smallest of them, and she’s not even really allowed to fight monsters yet. But when the rest of the berzerkers are imprisoned by the evil Witch Head, Barb manages to escape with the Shadow Blade. With the help of the power the sword gives her, and her friend the ever-hungry Pork Chop (a yeti who shows Barb monsters aren’t all bad), she has to find the Northern Zerks and bring help. The story ends on a cliffhanger that sets up Book 2. (I hope it comes out soon.) My favorite things in the book: The pit fighting champion Grub of Death, the unlucky sausage vendor, and Grom, the largest of the Snot Goblins. Plus all the burping. The drawings are fabulous, and this graphic novel super fast-paced.

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai. Fantagraphics, 2021. 9781683964261. 232pp. Ray and her girlfriend Bron care for Rachel’s niece, Nessie, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They’re wild days full of love and made up songs. But on non-Nessie days things are strained between Ray and Bron. Bron feels depressed and lost, and hates that Ray seems to want to save her. Spending time with Nessie makes them hang onto their relationship for a few extra months, but then Bron decides to leave, to go back home to stay with her conservative, religious family, the same people who once tried to convince her she wasn’t trans. Ray is devastated. And when she tries to back out of her commitment to help her sister Amanda by watching Nessie two days a week, both sisters call each other on their shit and start to talk in a way that they haven’t in years. At the same time Bron is reconnecting with her younger sister, and even with her parents a bit. This graphic novel is so damned good. Lai is a master of the four-panel comics page, and uses the format to pace the conversations in a way that makes them feel real. I love all of the art, but I particularly admire the pages where Bron and Ray and Nessie seem to transform into feral monsters while playing together. Lai leaves them unexplained, and what’s happening is only clear in the context of conversations later in the book.

The Girl From The Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. Scholastic Graphix, 2021. 9781338540574. 254pp. including some preliminary character designs in the back. After hitting her head and falling into the water, sixteen-year-old Morgan Kwon shares a romantic kiss with her rescuer, Keltie. She’s a selkie, and Morgan is her true love, which allows Keltie to turn into a human and walk on the land. Morgan is a little alarmed — she thought the whole thing was a dream, and she’s not out to anyone. In fact Morgan doesn’t plan to tell anyone she likes girls until after high school, but spending a day with Keltie might be enough to change that plan. (Or her little brother might tell everyone about their romance after he sees them together.) As their relationship grows, Keltie comes clean about needing Megan’s help to save a nearby seal rookery. The pictures are wonderful, the romance is very sweet, and the ending of the book is so good. Worth noting: Maarta Laiho did a great job coloring Ostertag’s art.

I Feel Machine. Edited by Krent Able and Julian Hanshaw. SelfMadeHero, 2018. 9781910593554. 128pp. Hanshaw and Able edited and contributed to this anthology of short comics centered on technology. Somehow I wasn’t aware of it, despite the A-list contributors, until I found it on my library shelves last week. Box Brown’s “Uploading,” a story about a future in which, after 1000 years of life folks upload themselves to a central server, is worth picking up the book for. (Uploading really reduces the lag time for gaming!) Shaun Tan’s pencils for his “Here I Am” are amazing, as is the tale itself, which centers on a little girl living in a world with creatures that, to others, might seem weird and horrific. (When a visitor like her tries to rescue her, to convince her that place isn’t her home, she doesn’t buy it.) Tillie Walden’s “Contours” is about a world in which, when technology became self-aware, it did what it was designed to do and tried to fix the problem it saw. Great story! And Walden’s coloring is, as always, stunning. The tale by Swedish artist Erik Svetoft is a weird techno-heist story (I love the way he draws faces); Hanshaw’s story is so strange I’m still puzzling over it (and the creator’s chicken, Joanie); and Able’s contribution puts a violent and horrific exclamation point at the end of the book. All in all this is an entertaining comics anthology featuring creators using a diverse range of art styles whose work you may might want to try or already want to see more of.

The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem by Colleen Paeff, Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2021. 9781534449299. Includes a detailed timeline of London’s sewage issues from 1500 -2018, an author’s note, suggestions for further reading, a selected bibliography and an afterward, “Poop Pollution Today” that includes ways to prevent water pollution in your neighborhood. A wordy, just-gross-enough book on the history of London’s sewage issues, why nightsoil men and early sewers couldn’t keep up, and how that led to terrible smells, cholera outbreaks, and many, many deaths. Luckily Joseph Bazalgette had ideas on how to solve the problem, and after some pushback, he was able to get funding to implement his plan. My favorite two-page spread shows a London street in 1819 with people emptying their chamberpots from upper floor windows while the people below try to avoid the mess. (Young Joseph is even there with his father holding an umbrella over their heads!) Napoleon Vs. The Bunnies by J.F. Fox and Anna Kwan. Kids Can Press, 2021. 9781525302022. In 1807 Napoleon and the Tsar of Russia signed a treaty. Napoleon wanted to celebrate with a rabbit hunt. But when the thousands of bunnies gathered for the event were released, they ran right at the hunters! Based on a true event that I’d never heard about.   Sakamoto’s Swim Club: How A Teacher Led An Unlikely Team To Victory by Julie Abery and Chris Sasaki. Kids Can Press, 2021. 9781525300318. A preface and author’s note (with photo) help fill in details of this story told in verse, and there’s a list of resources with internet links as well. Hawaiian science teacher Soichi Sakamoto started coaching the kids who he saw swimming in sugar plantation irrigation ditches. Many of them went on to dominate competitive swimming events in the U.S. and worldwide, and one of them even won two Olympic gold medals. Sasaki’s illustrations make this book feel like an instant classic, and Abery’s short, elegant rhymes really work with them to tie the story together; no detail is wasted and every element works together perfectly.

Cookie & Broccoli Play It Cool by Bob McMahon. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2021. 9780593109090. 76pp. Cookie, Broccoli, and their friend Garlic want to join the cool crowd. To do that they have to check in with Cucumber to find out if they’re cool. Cookie’s and Garlic’s applications are denied, but then Broccoli does some math magic and gives what Taco and Cupcake and their friends consider the greatest speech in the world, which changes everything. I feel like there are a lot of kids graphic novels these days about unlikely friends. The reason I loved this one is the cartoony food characters — there’s also Blueberry, Ice Cream Cone, and what I think is a peach — plus the amazing colors and fonts. And it’s silly despite the way it pushes its message, that kindness is cool.

Monster Friends by Kaeti Vandorn. RH Graphic, 2021. 9781984896827. 272pp. Reggie is a nervous, one-eyed monster fresh from his adventures. House-sitting for his cousin Agnes, he’s plagued by freaky dreams and a bit anxious, especially about contacting his adventuring pal, Clovis. One day while he’s sweeping the walk, a friendly, long-eared monster introduces herself (kinda) and asks him to play. She won’t take no for an answer, despite the not-so-subtle hints Reggie drops that he wants to be left alone. (Of course they become friends.) My favorite part of this book are the colors Vandorn uses and the friendly tone. The scene where Emily and Reggie read a book on cryptozoology together is my favorite.