Author: Gene Ambaum

War and Peas: Funny Comics for Dirty Lovers by Jonathan Kunz and Elizabeth Pich. Andrews McMeel, 2020. 9781524854072. 160pp. Frequent characters in this collection include Death, Dog, two couples, a ghost, a robot, and a witch who likes to party. […]
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The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith. Simon & Schuster, 2020. 9781534419568. 288pp. On Thanksgiving, when he was four, Sam fell into an abandoned well in Blue Creek, TX. He couldn’t really remember what happened when he fell, but […]
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And the People Stayed Home by Kitty O’Meara, illustrated by Stefano Di Christofaro and Paul Pereda. Tra Publishing, 2020. 9781734761788. 32pp. This picture book started out as a poem about the COVID pandemic. O’Meara’s words quickly drew acclaim and praise […]
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I Want You by Lisa Hanawalt. Drawn & Quarterly, 2020. 9781770463882. 140pp. This is a collection of Hanawalt’s black and white minicomics from before she published Hot Dog Taste Test, or worked on Bojack Horseman and her own animated series, […]
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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine. Drawn & Quarterly, 2020. 9781770463950. 168pp. This graphic memoir opens in Fresno in 1982 when young Adrian introduces himself to his new classmates, saying he likes drawing and collecting comics […]
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Slaughterhouse-Five: or The Children’s Crusade: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Kurt Vonnegut, written by Ryan North, illustrated by Albert Monteys. Archaia, 2020. 9781684156252. 192pp. I’m a huge fan of both Kurt Vonnegut and Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics, To Be Or […]
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Trespassers by Breena Bard. Scholastic, 2020. 9781338264210. 256pp. Gabby is in eighth grade and she loves reading mysteries. Her family takes a week-long trip to the lake cabin her mom grew up visiting. In addition to their long-time neighbor there, […]
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A Deadly Education: Lesson One of the Scholomance by Naomi Novik. Del Rey, 2020. 9780593128480. 324pp. The Scholomance is a high school where teens learn magic. It is in a mystic void and barely connected to the real world. There […]
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The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith. Little Brown, 2020. 9780316485982. 256pp. Twin brothers Grayson and Hawke manage to escape during their cousin Mirelle’s coup against their grandfather. Needing a place to hide, they disguise themselves as girls and […]
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Kodi by Jared Cullum. Top Shelf, 2020. 9781603094672. 176pp. Katya loves comics, and prefers them to hanging out with kids her age. On the way to her grandma’s house after getting a snack at the corner market, she falls off […]
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