Today I’m going to be sharing four upcoming graphic novels you have to add to your TBR now! There’s a little of everything for you with mostly middle grade graphic novels. Keep reading these book reviews for my full thoughts!
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Batcat by Meggie Ramm
Batcat loves being all alone in their home on Spooky Island. Up in their tree house, they pass the time playing video games and watching TV. But when Batcat suddenly finds themself haunted by an annoying, ice cream–stealing ghost, they visit the local Island Witch for a spell to remove their ghastly guest permanently!
With their Ghost-B-Gone spell in hand, Batcat travels across Spooky Island to gather ingredients—to the Cavernous Caves where the bats tell them they’re too round to be a bat, and to the Whispering Cemetery where the cats will help only if they commit to being a true cat. But Batcat is neither and that’s what makes them special, right?
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Batcat is a precious middle grade graphic novel about feeling like we don’t fit in. As a transracial adoptee who never felt like she fit in anywhere, Batcat definitely made me tear up unexpectedly. With brightly colored illustrations, Batcat is a story about how people can assume – based on what we look like or even what they think we “are” – that we can do something. But what happens when we can’t? Or when what we can do is different?
There’s cute details that middle grade readers will pick up on and I loved the core of friendship in Batcat. As a middle grade reader, I would have connected with this and I’m sure other readers will too! Find Batcat on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.
Tegan and Sara: Junior High by Tegan & Sara Quin and illustrated by Tillie Walden
Before Tegan and Sara took the music world by storm, the Quins were just two identical twins trying to find their place in a new home and new school. From first crushes to the perils of puberty, surviving junior high is something the sisters plan to face side by side, just like they’ve always faced things. But growing up also means growing apart, as Tegan and Sara make different friends and take separate paths to understanding their queerness. For the first time ever, they ask who one sister is without the other.
Set in the present day, this effervescent blend of fiction and autobiography, with artwork from Eisner Award–winner Tillie Walden, offers a glimpse at the two sisters before they became icons, exploring their shifting relationship, their own experiences coming out, and the first steps of their musical journey.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
As a fan of Tegan and Sara’s music, I knew I had to check out this graphic novel for middle grade readers! While this graphic novel examines sexuality, family, and identity, what I loved most was the way it examines being a twin. How we can feel like we have to share everything, but the ways in which our interests and friends differ. For Tegan and Sara they’re right at that point in which they have to decide who each of them are. The situations in their lives which only add strain to this journey.
I loved the art of Tillie Walden, but I knew I would. I love Walden’s previous works and the color palette is so gorgeous. While some parts of the story felt a bit disjointed, and I wish some of the moments had a bit more space to hold more depth, I enjoyed this memoir style graphic novel. It’s also cute to see the beginnings of their music! Find Tegan and Sara: Junior High on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.
Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham
Thien’s first memory isn’t a sight or a sound. It’s the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It’s the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam.
After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don’t get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien’s mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity.
Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search– for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism
Family Style is a story about identity, growing up in the United States, and family. I was able to attend an event where we heard from Pham about the inspiration and also the stories behind the graphic novel, which only gave me a deeper appreciation of this graphic novel memoir. In Family Style I loved the use of panels and art. The careful usage of dialogue. This memoir is moving and striking.
The ways in which food is baked into our memories, our trauma, and our family. All the ways in which a scent can trigger a long forgotten scene. Family Style examines growing up in the US, the price of the “American Dream”. It’s grounded in food to observe the ways their lives evolve. How Pham has to figure out how to embrace and feel out our identity and belonging. Feeling stuck between where we come from and where we are, where we grow up. For fans of graphic novel memoirs, this a must read. Find Family Style on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.
In Limbo by Deb Lee
Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee knows she’s different. Ever since her family emigrated from South Korea to the United States, she’s felt her Otherness. For a while, her English isn’t perfect. None of her teachers can pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes—especially her eyes—stand out. As the pressures of high school ramp up, friendships change and end, and everything gets harder. Even home isn’t a safe place, as fights with her mom escalate. Deb is caught in a limbo, with nowhere to go, and her mental health plummets.
But Deb is resilient. She discovers art and self-care, and gradually begins to start recovering. And during a return trip to South Korea, she realizes something that changes her perspective on her family, her heritage, and herself.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism, fatphobia, self-harm, domestic abuse, child abuse, suicide attempt, suicidal ideation, depression
In Limbo is a heartbreaking and emotional memoir. With stunning illustrations, especially the shading and some beautiful effects, In Limbo is a story about the pressure of performance. The expectations of those around us, influencing and shaping us. Used to playing piano, Deb has to figure out what it would be like for her if she didn’t let her life revolve around music. The beginnings of changing what we think and care about as a teen Yet at the same time, how so much of identity is tied to “what we do” and how when we change that, we can lose a community.
Watching Deb try to find what she’s passionate about, is a striking emotional chord. How much of who we are tied to what we can do, how we perform, and not who we are. But even more so, Deb is struggling with her disorderd eating. Throughout In Limbo Deb has to examine her own relationship with food, her mother, and her own sense of self. As an Asian reader, there were some moments that absolutely had my heart in my throat. How she feels both not American, and also not Korean.
In Limbo explores difficult emotions. Deep feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. All the shades of blue when we grow out of friendships. But it also explores the necessity of self-forgiveness. Of how people who might think they have our best interests in mind, but how they don’t act that way. The distance between what they think they’re doing and what we want from them. It’s a fabulous, introspective, and emotional memoir which I’d recommend for fans of graphic novel memoirs. Find In Limbo on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, & The Book Depository.