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.

My Begging Chart by Keiler Roberts. Drawn & Quarterly, 2021. 9781770464582. 156pp. I think the first of Roberts books full of autobiographical comics I read was Sunburning (Koyama). I’m so happy D&Q are publishing her now — there’s no one that captures ridiculous and real moments like Roberts. You can see a few at http://keilerroberts.com/ You can start with any volume, really, but ask your library to buy this one. And if, after reading one of Roberts’ books you also want to read them all, order her first two self published collections, Miseryland and Powdered Milk, from cartoonist John Porcellino’s The Spit and a Half Company at http://www.spitandahalf.com/?s=keiler+roberts Bonus: Porcellino addressed the envelope to me himself, in his handwriting, which populates his comics and zines. I doubt I’ll ever be able to bring myself to throw away the envelope. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. (Sequel to A Deadly Education). Del Rey, 2021. 9780593128862. 400pp. A fresh take on a high school for wizards narrated by someone who’s magical gift is apocalyptic. She’s a loner full of attitude trying not to fall into a relationship with the school’s hero while surviving her senior year and, ultimately, trying to do something amazing. Read A Deadly Education first, and let me know what you thought about the end of this one if you’ve read it (without spoiling it for everyone, please). Blood of the Chosen (Burningblade & Silvereye Book 2) by Django Wexler. Orbit, 2021. 9780316519625. 480pp. The second book in this series was a fun read, and I’m still determined to get anyone who likes Star Wars to read this series. Things lead to another meeting of the siblings at the heart of the series (they’re on opposite sides of a conflict). It might make sense to you if you skipped the first book, but don’t, it’s too good to miss.   The Empire’s Ruin (Ashes of the Unhewn Throne Book 1) by Brian Staveley. Tor, 2021. 9780765389909. 752pp. This is the start of a new series set in the world of Staveley’s The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne. It centers around two minor characters in that trilogy, but reading it first would spoil the ending of those three epic, inventive fantasy novels. Go back and start with the first in that series, The Emperor’s Blades. Worth noting: These books are very violent. And a large part of this one takes place in a previously unseen continent.       Destroy All Monsters (a Reckless book) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Image, 2021. 9781534319240. The third original graphic novel in the Reckless series is better than the first two because longtime collaborators Brubaker and Phillips are always at the top of their game. If you like crime stories or graphic novels (or, like me, both) you’re going to love the way Ethan Reckless handles himself and the problems he takes care of.

Graceling: The Graphic Novel by Kristin Cashore, adapted and illustrated by Gareth Hinds. Etch / Clarion, 2021. 9780358250425. 272pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9780358250425?partnerid=34778&p_bt Kat is one of the Graced, special individuals with differently colored eyes who have what I’m going to say is a super power. They are each the property of their unpredictable kings. Kat’s Grace is killing, which she found out when she was eight — she accidentally killed a man who grabbed her. King Randa has been sending her out to kill and intimidate on his behalf since she was ten, but with the help of the King’s spy, Oll, she’s also learned how not to kill. (This took years of training, fighting armed men in full armor. Yikes.) Now she goes on missions, not just for her king, but also secretly, in disguise, on behalf of those who need her help. When she rescues an imprisoned royal, she crosses paths another Graced fighter, Po, who follows her home in search of his grandfather (the guys he rescued). This all leads to epic sparring matches, jealousy, friendship, and romance. Halfway through the story Kat sets off to do what she thinks is right, to help Po find out who kidnapped his grandfather. This is the story of a powerful young woman figuring out how to do the right thing, a kind of medieval fantasy superhero graphic novel. I’ve loved Hinds’ graphic novel adaptations of classic literature, and it’s great to see him working in a different genre; he more than succeeds in bringing the characters and story to life, and his backgrounds and coloring work particularly well in this book.

Squirrel Do Bad (Trubble Town) by Stephe Pastis. Aladdin, 2021. 288pp. There’s Wendy the Wanderer, who founded V.O.O.P. (Victims Of Overprotective Parents). She lives in a mushroom shaped house designed by her mother. One day she goes to Mooshy Mike’s alone (which she’s not supposed to do) and gets a moosy, a drink that has “the most sugar legally available.” She’s sitting on a bench drinking it and eating nuts when she meets Squirrely McSquirrel, who wants a nut. Instead she gives him a drink of her mooshy. Squirrely goes a bit crazy. The mayor’s office explodes. The squirrel-hating sheriff goes to arrest Squirrelly, but Squirrely is out trying to get more mooshies. This gives rise to and complicates all of the chaos in the rest of the book. Plus theres a chihuahua trying to woo the cat next door, an octopus who can write eight dubious news stories at once, and quite a bit more courtroom “drama” than you might expect in a book centered on a wandering kid and a sugar-addicted squirrel. Pastis (Pearls Before Swine, Timmy Failure) has created a fast-paced graphic novel full of insanity. It’s one of those books I’d have loved to read to my kid way back when she was little, but which I enjoyed all by myself.

Girl Haven written by Lilah Sturges, illustrated by Meaghan Carter. Oni Press, 2021. 9781620108659. After swooning over Eleanor when she offers to paint his nails, Ash joins his middle school’s pride club with Eleanor, Chloe, and Junebug. They all offer support to Chloe, who just came out to her parents, and then head to Ash’s house. He shows them his mother’s studio, a converted shed where she created the fantasy world Koretis starting when she was in first grade. (This is all before Ash’s mom left. Or did she disappear?) Chloe finds a book of spells, including the one that transports them all to Koretis. Turns out it’s a haven for girls full of magical creatures, including quite a few talking rabbits. And they’re not really happy to see a boy there. But then the kindest and wisest of the rabbits lets them know that she believes the kids are there to save everyone (they are), and that the magic hasn’t failed them in bringing them Ash because maybe he is a girl: “Girls come in all shapes and sizes, after all.”

I Dream of a Journey by Akiko Miyakoshi. Translation by Cathy Hirano. Kids Can Press, 2020. 9781525304781. A hotelkeeper has never been anywhere but his little town. At night he dreams of traveling to the faraway places his guests have told him of, and of visiting them. Miyakoshi’s drawings are amazing, particularly the contrast between the black and white drawings of the hotelkeeper’s reality and the stunning colors in his dreams. Every page of this quiet book is a wow.   Listen written by Gabi Snyder, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. Paula Wiseman, 2021. 9781534461895. This book encourages kids to listen past the noise (particularly the overwhelming noise of a city) to hear individual sounds, to think about sound words, and to be kind. A quiet and lovely book, despite the cacophony it describes. My favorite two-page spread is about rain.   Amara and the Bats by Emma Reynolds. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2021. 9781534469013. Amara loves bats! And she collects bat facts. But after her family moves, there aren’t any bats in the nearby park. So she starts a Save the Bats campaign to make the park bat friendly again. Worth nothing: there are bat faces on the front endpapers! Plus several pages of bat facts at the end.