Graphic Novel Guide: Adult & YA

The world already knows Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, Calvin O'Keefe, and the three Mrs--Who, Whatsit, and Which--the memorable and wonderful characters who fight off a dark force and save our universe in the Newbery award-winning classic A Wrinkle in Time.

Advaita: The Comic Book is a wryly humorous and profoundly insightful account of an artist's inner and outer travels. His girlfriend, sometimes unwittingly, provides insights and catalytic obscuration in equal measure throughout. Our hero searches for the "Truth with a capital T" across Asia and at home in his native Spain. He goes through stages that you may recognize in yourself or others--often amusing with hindsight, but not always so at the time. To tell you any more would be to spoil your fun--suffice it to say that you may find yourself reading it quite quickly and then going back to re-read more carefully the parts that touched you.

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, "American Born Chinese" tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable.

In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship. He's embarking on the most difficult journey he's leaving home to build a better future for his family. In this wordless graphic novel, Shaun Tan captures the immigrant experience through clear, mesmerizing images. The reader enters a strange new world, participating in the main character's isolation and ultimately his joy.

As America moves closer to normalizing relations with Cuba, this gripping, vivid graphic novel reveals life and times of Fidel Castro, one of the twentieth century's most intriguing, charismatic, and divisive figures. The book is narrated by a German journalist named Karl Mertens, who is plunged into the searing heat of pre-revolutionary Cuba in the mid-1950s. He first meets with Castro while the latter is hiding in the mountains, then follows him through the dramatic revolution and his ascent to the presidency that, despite the Bay of Pigs confrontation and years of international trade blockades, lasts for nearly fifty years. We also witness his involvement in bloody skirmishes, failed missions, and brutal crackdowns, as well as his interactions with and on behalf of the Cuban people, which reveal as much about his fallible human qualities as they do his legend. Bristling with energy and alive with the spirit of Cuba, Castro has much to offer about the complex politics of one of the most enduring and controversial figures in modern history.

An engrossing and counter view of one of the most dangerous elements of American urban history, this graphic novel tells the true story of Benjy Melendez, a Bronx legend who founded, at the end of the 1960s, the formidable Ghetto Brothers gang. From the seemingly bombed-out ravages of his neighborhood, wracked by drugs, poverty, and violence, he managed to extract an incredibly positive energy from this riot ridden era: his multiracial gang promoted peace rather than violence. Among its many accomplishments, the gang held weekly concerts on the streets or in abandoned buildings, which fostered the emergence of hip-hop.

By the fall of 1963, theCivil Rights Movement has penetrated deep into the American consciousness, andas chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, John Lewis is guiding the tip of the spear. Through relentless direct action, SNCC continue sto force the nation to confront its own blatant injustice, but for every step forward, the danger grows more intense: Jim Crow strikes back through legal tricks, intimidation, violence, and death. The only hope for lasting change is to give voice to the millions of Americans silenced by voter suppression:"One Man, One Vote." To carry out their nonviolent revolution, Lewis and an army of young activists launch a series of innovative campaigns, including the Freedom Vote, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and an all-out battle for the soul of the Democratic Party waged live on national television. With these new struggles come new allies, new opponents, and an unpredictable new president who might be both at once. But fractures within the movement are deepening ... even as 25-year-old John Lewis prepares to risk everything in a historic showdown high above the Alabama river, in a town called Selma.

Octavia E. Butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpiece, Kindred, now in graphic novel format. More than 35 years after its release, Kindred continues to draw in new readers with its deep exploration of the violence and loss of humanity caused by slavery in the United States, and its complex and lasting impact on the present day. Adapted by celebrated academics and comics artists Damian Duffy and John Jennings, this graphic novel powerfully renders Butler's mysterious and moving story, which spans racial and gender divides in the antebellum South through the 20th century. Butler's most celebrated, critically acclaimed work tells the story of Dana, a young black woman who is suddenly and inexplicably transported from her home in 1970s California to the pre-Civil War South.

In the face of social inequalities, sometimes strength for mobilization can be found through laughter. It is this ethos that Ilan Stavans employs in this politically minded graphic novel. Weaving humor with social commentary, Stavans tells a tale of a Latino man taking Los Angeles' mayoral office by storm -- and refusing to stop there. Illustrated throughout by Roberto Weil, the story follows the life and political development of Mr. Spic -- Samuel Patricio Inocencio -- as he upends the political machine by owning up to and embracing his rough-and-tumble past, refusing to bend to corporate pressures, and using his influence to promote pacifism and tolerance. Progressive politics has always moved forward with the help of dedicated, singular individuals, and Mr. Spic -- light-hearted as his story may be -- hilariously exemplifies that model.

Working class nurse. Mother of three. Labor organizer. Margaret Sanger--best known as the pioneer of birth control--was revolutionary in more ways than one. In Sabrina Jones's graphic novel Our Lady of Birth Control, the author illustrates the incredible life of Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), framing the biography with her personal experiences of coming of age at the height of the sexual revolution.

Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran: of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane's child's-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a stunning reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, through laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

In Persepolis, heralded by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the freshest and most original memoirs of our day," Marjane Satrapi dazzled us with her heartrending graphic memoir about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Here is the continuation of her fascinating story. In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a new life in Vienna. Once there, she faces the trials of adolescence far from her friends and family, and while she soon carves out a place for herself among a group of fellow outsiders, she continues to struggle for a sense of belonging. Finding that she misses her home more than she can stand, Marjane returns to Iran after graduation. Her difficult homecoming forces her to confront the changes both she and her country have undergone in her absence and her shame at what she perceives as her failure in Austria. Marjane allows her past to weigh heavily on her until she finds some like-minded friends, falls in love, and begins studying art at a university. However, the repression and state-sanctioned chauvinism eventually lead her to question whether she can have a future in Iran. As funny and poignant as its predecessor, Persepolis 2 is another clear-eyed and searing condemnation of the human cost of fundamentalism. In its depiction of the struggles of growing up--here compounded by Marjane's status as an outsider both abroad and at home--it is raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating.

Lee, living in Hong Kong, meets Matt, a fine young Englishman. Their relationship becomes stronger by the day, despite their deep cultural differences. But there is Lee's Dad to contend with who views this affair very suspiciously. And there is another contender for Lee's heart, a Chinese young man, whose jealousy takes on twinges of xenophobia. Will Lee and Matt's relationship successfully cross the cultural divide and overcome the negative odds? Two worlds collide creating good sparks... and bad ones.

In Cathy Malkasians' follow-up to 2007's award-winning graphic novelPercy Gloom, Temperance, Lester has no memory of his prior lifeafter a brutal injury in battle. For the next thirty years his wife doeseverything to keep him from remembering -and re-constructing- a society,Blessedbowl, that elevates him as a hero. Blessedbowl is a cultural convergenceof lies, memories, stories, and beliefs. Its people thrive on ideas ofpersecution, exceptionality, and enemies, convinced that war lurks just outsidetheir walls. They have come to depend on Lester, their greatest war hero, tolead the charge once the Final Battle begins. What kind of enemy could topplesuch a people and its walls? Mere memory, it seems, as Lester gradually emergesfrom his amnesia. Temperance is an eyewitness's account of recovery andawakening. Malkasian creates a fully realized, multi-layered world, inhabited byvividly realized characters. The graphic novel works on two levels. It considersthe concepts of violence, stories, and belief, and their place in holding aculture together, slyly echoing contemporary political issues in a nation at astressful time currently at war with a ubiquitous enemy.

A New York Times bestseller A 2015 Caldecott Honor Book A 2015 Michael L. Printz Honor Book An Eisner Award Winner Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. One of the local teens - just a couple of years older than Rose and Windy - is caught up in something bad... Something life threatening. It's a summer of secrets, and sorrow, and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. This One Summer is a tremendously exciting new teen graphic novel from two creators with true literary clout. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, the team behind Skim, have collaborated on this gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of childhood - a story of renewal and revelation.

Returning with the second eight volumes of the fan-favorite, New YorkTimes bestseller series, The Walking Dead, chronicling the next chapter of Robert Kirkman's Eisner Award-winning continuing story of survival horror -- beginning with Rick Grimes' struggle to survive after the prison raid, to the group's finding short solace in The Community, and the devastation that follows. In a world ruled by the dead, we are finally forced to finally start living. Collects The Walking Dead #49-96.

This volume contains the next chapter of Robert Kirkman's Eisner Award-winning continuing story of survival horror. Rick Grimes's dream of rebuilding civilization is tested as the people of Alexandria come into contact with other communities that have developed their own methods of survival. Collects The Walking Dead #97-144.

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.