Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels: Ability, Neurodiversity, Mental Health and Graphic Medicine

She lost her left breast, her job, and her guy. She does not know it yet, but this is the best day of her life. An inspiring and surprisingly comedic tale of loss and acceptance told largely through silent sequential narrative.

In her first full-length graphic memoir, Summer Pierre takes us on a journey through the soundtracks that shaped her. Through mixed tapes, boyfriends, late nights in Boston folks clubs, and ill-fated cross-country road trips, Pierre weaves a moving meditation on music, memory and identity.

A collection of one- and two-page comics that map Snider's inner thoughts, poetic observations, and frequent failures at living mindfully. With both humor and a touch of reality, The Art of Living centers on mindfulness, but also empathy, relaxation, gratitude, and awareness--evergreen subjects that are more important and relevant now than ever.

This extraordinary graphic novel is a powerful denunciation of sexual violence against women. As seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl named Una, it takes place in northern England in 1977, as the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer of prostitutes, is on the loose and creating panic among the townspeople. As the police struggle in their clumsy attempts to find the killer, and the headlines in the local paper become more urgent, a once self-confident Una teaches herself to "lower her gaze" in order to deflect attention from boys. After she is "slut-shamed" at school for having birth control pills, Una herself is the subject of violent acts for which she comes to blame herself. But as the police finally catch up and identify the killer, Una grapples with the patterns of behavior that led her to believe she was to blame. Becoming Unbecoming combines various styles, press clippings, photo-based illustrations, and splashes of color to convey Una's sense of confusion and rage, as well as sobering statistics on sexual violence against women. The book is a no-holds-barred indictment of sexual violence against women and the shame and blame of its victims that also celebrates the empowerment of those able to gain control over their selves and their bodies.

When a dear friend dies by suicide, Emilia is left with only memories. Full of humor and poignancy, this graphic memoir is a meditation on the meaning of friendship and a love letter to an irreplaceable friend.

Autism in women and girls is still not widely understood, and is often misrepresented or even overlooked. This graphic novel offers an engaging and accessible insight into the lives and minds of autistic women, using real-life case studies. The charming illustrations lead readers on a visual journey of how women on the spectrum experience everyday life, from metaphors and masking in social situations, to friendships and relationships and the role of special interests. Fun, sensitive and informative, this is a fantastic resource for anyone who wishes to understand how gender affects autism, and how to create safer supportive and more accessible environments for women on the spectrum.

Dealing with pregnancy, child-rearing, art-making, mental illness, and an MS diagnosis, the parts of Chlorine Gardens' sum sound heavy, but Keiler Roberts' gift is the deft drollness in which she presents life's darker moments. She doesn't whistle past graveyards, but rather finds the punch line in the pitiful.

A collection of original comics engaging fundamental issues in medical ethics, including patient autonomy, informed consent, unconscious bias, mandated reporting of suspected abuse, confidentiality, medical mistakes, surrogate decision-making, and futility.

Comics for Choice is an anthology of comics about abortion. As this fundamental reproductive right continues to be stigmatized and jeopardized, over sixty artists and writers have created comics that boldly share their own experiences, and educate readers on the history of abortion, current political struggles, activism, and more. Lawyers, activists, medical professionals, historians, and abortion fund volunteers have teamed up with cartoonists and illustrators to share their knowledge in accessible comics form.

A collection of short comics about the COVID-19 pandemic. Diverse artists address disruptions in work, school, and family life as well as failures in public policy, racial biases, and systemic inequalities revealed by the pandemic.

Daredevil, the red-garbed foe of evil, the man without fear. He has become the target of the maniacal villain known as Bullseye, in whose hands anything and everything is a deadly weapon. Having kidnapped Daredevil's partner, the Black Widow, Bullseye will stop at nothing to see his arch-foe eliminated.

A fire burns deep within Matt Murdock. He was raised by a single father, an over-the-hill prizefighter with one last chance to make it good-- a chance that cost him his life. Taunted and tormented by children while growing up, Matt's life was irrevocably altered after he was blinded by radioactive materials while saving the life of an old man. The payoff? An unbreakable will and a keen intelligence, helping focus the super-senses he was blessed with during the accident.

Matt Murdock is back in New York and hoping to resuscitate his law practice, but not everyone is happy to see him. And Daredevil hits the streets as Klaw, master of sound, makes his deadly return! Then, a blind client holds the key to a global conspiracy perpetrated by some familiar foes. Can Daredevil protect him long enough to bring down an international criminal organization? And when a piece of cutting-edge technology goes missing, Daredevil and Punisher team up to track it down and clear the Black Cat of the crime. But is Black Cat really innocent?! And after someone exhumes Battlin' Jack Murdock's grave, DD heads underground to find the villain responsible.

Date Me is a collection of comics that tells stories of dating in a wheelchair, social situations sculpted by people's response to a wheelchair, and the struggle of trying to fit in from a different perspective. Dating is hard enough as an able-bodied person. Throw in the variable of a wheelchair and the 'hard' becomes 'almost not worth it.' Kristin Beale shares stories of her crazy family, the unique and often lousy ways people interact with her because of her disability, and her often failed attempts at dating in a wheelchair with a strained, but ongoing determination not to give up. Relatable for many people who have dated in the 21st century, Date Me offers a different perspective from a wheelchair user and how to interact with them. With a few extra indiscriminate stories thrown in, Kristin's stories keep readers entertained as she reveals the struggles and triumphs of living in a wheelchair in today's world.

Starting a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest. At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends. Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in the school -- in the hallway ... in the teacher's lounge ... in the bathroom! This is power, maybe even superpower. Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, listener for all. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different ... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?

What do you do when your body doesn't match the ideal shape as dictated by society? What do you wear when sweats seem to be the only clothes that fit you? How do you deal with the constant, overwhelming waves of criticism about your appearance from yourself and others? A love letter to anyone striving to embrace their size, this wonderfully illustrated, uplifting comic essay by a plus-size author chronicles her own journey with body positivity, what inspired her to change her mindset, and how she learned to love herself as she is.

David B. spent an idyllic early childhood in a small town near Orléans, France, but the family's life changed abruptly when his big brother Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age eleven. In search of a cure, their parents dragged the family to acupuncturists and magnetic therapists, to mediums and macrobiotic communes, but every new cure ended in disappointment. Angry at his brother for "abandoning" him and at all the quacks who offered them false hope, the author learned to cope by drawing fantastically elaborate battle scenes, creating images that provide a window into his interior life, as well as reliving his grandfathers' experiences in both World Wars through flashbacks. An honest and horrifying portrait of the disease and of the pain and fear it sowed in the family, this graphic autobiography is also a moving depiction of one family's intricate history.

Jason Adam Katzenstein is just trying to live his life, but he keeps getting sidetracked by his over-active, anxious brain. Mundane events like shaking hands or sharing a drink snowball into absolute catastrophes. Jason has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mental illness that compels him to perform rituals in order to protect himself from dangers that don't really exist. He checks, washes, over-thinks, rinse, repeat. He does his best to hide his embarrassing compulsions, and sometimes this even works. He grows up, worries about his first kiss, falls in love with making cartoons, moves to New York City -- which is magical and gross, etc. All the while, half his energy goes into living his life, while the other half is devoted to the increasingly ridiculous rituals he's decided to maintain to keep himself from fully short-circuiting. Then, he fully short-circuits. At his absolute lowest, Jason finally decides to do the things he's always been told to do to get better: exposure therapy and medication. These are the things that have always freaked him out, and they continue to freak him out. Also, they help him recover. Everything is an Emergency is a comic about all the self-destructive stories someone tells himself, over and over, until they start to seem true. In images surreal, witty, and confessional, Jason shows us that OCD can be funny, even when it feels like it's ruining your life.

Everything Is OK is the story of Debbie Tung's struggle with anxiety and her experience with depression. She shares what it's like navigating life, overthinking every possible worst-case scenario, and constantly feeling like all hope is lost. The book explores her journey to understanding the importance of mental health in her day-to-day life and how she learns to embrace the highs and lows when things feel out of control. Debbie opens up about deeply personal issues and the winding road to recovery, discovers the value of self-love, and rebuilds a more mindful relationship with her mental health. In this graphic memoir, Debbie aims to provide positive and comforting messages to anyone who is facing similar difficulties or is just trying to get through a tough time in life. She hopes to encourage readers to be kinder to themselves, to know that they are not alone, and that it's okay to be vulnerable because they are not defined by their mental health struggles. The dark clouds won't be there forever. Everything will turn out all right.

A narrative, in graphic novel form, of a young woman coming of age while struggling with an eating disorder and family dysfunction. Documents the author's battle with body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia, which plagued her from her childhood through to adulthood.

From Adam and Eve to pussy hats, people have punished, praised, pathologized, and politicized vulvas, vaginas, clitorises, and menstruation. In this graphic nonfiction book, drawn in chunky, punky pen, Swedish cartoonist Liv Strömquist traces how different cultures and traditions have shaped women's health and beyond. Her biting, informed commentary and ponytailed avatar guides the reader from the darkest chapters of history (a clitoridectomy performed on a five-year-old American child as late as 1948) to the lightest (vulvas used as architectural details as a symbol of protection).

Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina's tummy trouble isn't going away... and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What's going on?

Matt Fraction and David Aja's complete, acclaimed run in a single sharpshooting volume! Clint Barton continues his fight for justice -- and good rooftop BBQs! With Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, he's out to get some downtime from being one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes -- but when the apartment building he's moved into, and the neighbors he's befriended, are threatened by a tracksuit-wearing, dog-abusing gang of Eastern European mobsters who say 'bro' an awful lot, Clint must stand up and defend his new adopted family...any way he can. It's Hawkguy, Katie-Kate, Pizza Dog and friends against the Clown, Madame Masque, the Tracksuit Draculas and more in a fantastic, Eisner Award-winning reinvention of the arrowed Avenger! Bro, you read this book. Okay, bro?

Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore, and he's sort of got a boyfriend, even if he's kind of mean and only wants to meet up in secret. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie--the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months--but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him. That is, until the start of January, in which Nick and Charlie are placed in the same form group and made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...

Nick and Charlie are best friends, but one kiss has changed everything. In the aftermath, Charlie is sure that Nick isn't interested, but Nick is more confused than ever. Love works in surprising ways, and Nick comes to see the world from a new perspective. He discovers all sorts of things about his friends, his family ... and himself.

Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Nick has even found the courage to come out to his mom. But coming out isn't something that happens just once, and Nick and Charlie try to figure out when to tell their friends that they're dating. Not being out to their classmates gets even harder during a school trip to Paris. As Nick and Charlie's feelings get more serious, they'll need each other more than ever.

There's a new kind of crisis threatening the heroes of the DC Universe, ripped from real-world headlines by CIA-operative turned comics writer Tom King: How does a superhero handle PTSD? Welcome to Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes who've been traumatized by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold! It's up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to investigate--but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition? Collects Heroes in Crisis #1-9

Brave, witty and empowering, this graphic memoir follows Rebecca as they navigate their asexual identity and mental health in a world obsessed with sex. From school to work to relationships, this book offers an unparalleled insight into asexuality. Trigger warning: this book mentions bullying, anxiety, OCD, rape, sex and alcohol.

Every time Allie Brosh posts something new on her hugely popular blog Hyperbole and a Half the internet rejoices. This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features more than fifty percent new content, with ten never-before-seen essays and one wholly revised and expanded piece as well as classics from the website like, "The God of Cake," "Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving," and her astonishing, "Adventures in Depression," and "Depression Part Two," which have been hailed as some of the most insightful meditations on the disease ever written.

Because of a hearing disability, Kohei is often misunderstood and has trouble integrating into life on campus, so he learns to keep his distance. That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi's words cut through Kohei's usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.

Due to the overwhelming success of I Hear the Sunspot, the sequel has finally arrived, I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness! How will this 'more than friends, less than lovers' relationship evolve? Because of a hearing disability Kohei is often alone. Taichi is outspoken and cheerful. At first, Kohei keeps himself well guarded, but after he meets Taichi he slowly learns to open up.

In her keenly observed graphic memoir, Impossible People, celebrated cartoonist Julia Wertz chronicles her haphazard attempts at sobriety and the relentlessly challenging, surprisingly funny, and occasionally absurd cycle of addiction and recovery. Opening at the culmination of a disastrous trip to Puerto Rico, the first page of Impossible People finds Julia standing stupefied in the middle of the jungle beside a rental Jeep she's just crashed. From this moment, the story flashes back to the beginning of her five-year journey towards sobriety that includes group therapy sessions, relapses, an ill-fated relationship, terrible dates, and an unceremonious eviction from her New York City apartment. Far from the typical addiction narrative that follows an upward trajectory from rock bottom to rehab to recovery, Impossible People portrays the lesser told but more common story: That the road to recover is not always linear. With unflinching honesty, Wertz details the arduous, frustrating, and hilarious story of trying and failing and trying again.

Shares the stories of veterans from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, who struggle to reconcile their wartime experiences with their postwar lives, revealing how America's endless entanglement in wars has affected the psyches of the people who wage them.

Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records six months of her own life as it falls apart in a desperate attempt to put it back together again in the only way she knows how. IT'S LONELY AT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH is an intimate and metanarrative look into the life of a selfish artist who must create for her own survival. A poignant and original depiction of a young woman's struggle with mental health--through the ups and downs of anxiety, depression, and imposter syndrome--as she forges a promising career in sequential art and finds herself along the way.

If you work hard enough, if you want it enough, if you're smart and talented and "good enough," you can do anything. Except get pregnant. Her whole life, Lucy Knisley wanted to be a mother. But when it was finally the perfect time, conceiving turned out to be harder than anything she'd ever attempted. Fertility problems were followed by miscarriages, and her eventual successful pregnancy was plagued by health issues, up to a dramatic, near-death experience in labor and delivery. Kid Gloves follows Lucy's personal transition into motherhood, and it also illustrates the history and science of reproductive health from all angles, full of curious facts and inspiring (and notorious) figures in medicine and midwifery.

A moving and honest graphic memoir about the unexpected cancer journey of a young, queer, mixed-race woman. At the age of twenty-five, Kimiko Tobimatsu was a young, queer, mixed-race woman with no history of health problems whose world was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In an instant, she became immersed in a new and complicated life of endless appointments, evaluations, and treatments, and difficult conversations with her partner and parents. Kimiko knew that this wasn't what being twenty-five was supposed to be like ... but then, she didn't have a choice. With tender illustrations by Keet Geniza, Kimiko Does Cancer is a graphic memoir that upends the traditional cancer narrative from a young woman's perspective, confronting issues such as dating while in menopause, navigating work and treatment, and talking to well-meaning friends, health care professionals, and other cancer survivors with viewpoints different from her own. Not one for pink ribbons or runs for the cure, Kimiko seeks connection within the cancer community while also critiquing the mainstream cancer experience. Honest and poignant, Kimiko Does Cancer is about finding one's own way out of a health crisis.

Based on a decade of interviews and archival research, the English translation of this best-selling graphic novel tells the story of Nok, an old blind man who sells lottery tickets in Bangkok, as he decides to leave the urban capital and return to his native village. The King of Bangkok follows Nok as he walks the streets of the city for the last time, trying to get rid of his last five lottery tickets. With each ticket he sells, he encounters something that brings him back to a period of his life, from his arrival in Bangkok all the way to the Red Shirt protests of 2010. Through an alternation of reflections on contemporary Bangkok and flashbacks to his past, we reconstruct Nok's story, the love story with his wife Gai, and the ups and downs of their migrant lives, as well as those of an entire country around them. This is a story of migration to the city and distant families in the countryside; economic development eroding the land, and of political protest choked in blood. Ultimately, it is a story about contemporary Thailand and how the waves of history lift, engulf, or crash two ordinary people. A perfect entry into the history of contemporary Thailand, this book is essential reading for both students and travelers.

A graphic memoir of eating disorders, abuse and recovery. Like most kids, Katie was a picky eater. She'd sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in he rbedroom, listen to parental threats that she'd have to eat it for breakfast. But in any life a set of circumstances can collide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly. One day you can find yourself being told you have two weeks to live. Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the weak, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

Morio Kurokawa is the toughest-looking tough guy around. Yukiko Akaza is a self-possessed girl with a vision impairment attending a school for the blind. The whole city fears Morio, but Yukiko sees the real him--he's a soft sweetheart who's just searching for his place in the world! Mori the Black Panther has won over a hundred fights. He's beloved by his goons and feared by the public. But now, he faces his biggest challenge yet when he meets Yukiko...and falls in love at first sight! Can Morio outgrow his delinquent roots and turn over a new leaf for his unexpected love?

In her first book of comic strips, Emma reflects on social and feminist issues by means of simple line drawings, dissecting the mental load, i.e. all that invisible and unpaid organising, list-making and planning women do to manage their lives, and the lives of their family members. In her strips Emma deals with themes ranging from maternity leave (it is not a vacation!), domestic violence, the clitoris, the violence of the medical world on women during childbirth, and other feminist issues, and she does so in a straightforward way that is both hilarious and deadly serious. Emma's comics also address the everyday outrages and absurdities of immigrant rights, income equality, and police violence.

A powerful graphic novel /manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies. This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment--viz. Flint, Michigan--Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

An Arab-American college student struggles to live with epilepsy in this starkly colored and deeply-cutting graphic novel. Isaac wants nothing more than to be a functional college student--but managing his epilepsy is an exhausting battle to survive. He attempts to maintain a balancing act between his seizure triggers and his day-to-day schedule, but he finds that nothing--not even his medication--seems to work. The doctors won't listen, the schoolwork keeps piling up, his family is in denial about his condition, and his social life falls apart as he feels more and more isolated by his illness. Even with an unexpected new friend by his side, so much is up against him that Isaac is starting to think his epilepsy might be unbeatable. Based on the author's own experiences as an epileptic, Mis(h)adra is a boldly visual depiction of the daily struggles of living with a misunderstood condition in today's hectic and uninformed world.

Overview: Each year, approximately 1.5 million people in the United States and Canada are diagnosed with cancer. This is one family's story. Winner of the 2005 Eisner Award in the category of Best Digital Comic for the original Web version, Mom's Cancer is now available as a graphic novel. An honest, unflinching, and sometimes humorous look at the practical and emotional effect that serious illness can have on patients and their families, Mom's Cancer is a story of hope- uniquely told in words and illustrations. Brian Fies is a freelance journalist whose mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. As he and his two sisters struggled with the effects of her illness and her ongoing recovery from treatment, Brian processed the experience in his journal, which took the form of words and pictures.

A deeply emotional graphic memoir of a young woman's struggles with self-esteem and body image issues. All Marie-Noëlle wants is to be thin and beautiful. She wishes that her thighs were slimmer, that her stomach lay flatter. Maybe then her parents wouldn't make fun of her eating habits at family dinners, the girls at school wouldn't call her ugly, and the boy she likes would ask her out. This all-too-relatable memoir follows Marie-Noëlle from childhood to her twenties, as she navigates what it means to be born into a body that doesn't fall within society's beauty standards.

Navigating Life with a Developmental Disorder. This intimate manga collection follows nine adults with developmental disorders as they outline their struggles and triumphs. Experience the stories of a high school dropout's new path to education; a person seeing the world through new eyes thanks to their medication; a father and daughter learning to thrive together, and more. This manga illustrates diverse anxieties but also self-empowerment in learning to navigate a world not built with everyone in mind

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an honest and heartfelt look at one young woman's exploration of her sexuality, mental well-being, and growing up in our modern age. Told using expressive artwork that invokes both laughter and tears, this moving and highly entertaining single volume depicts not only the artist's burgeoning sexuality, but many other personal aspects of her life that will resonate with readers.

This graphic novella is built from intimate interviews with four people who have attempted suicide. It includes descriptions of actual attempts and traumatic events that may be upsetting to some readers.

In 2009, Tessa Brunton experienced the first symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome). She spent much of the next eight years unwell, in a medical holding pattern, housebound and often alone. In 2017, she found a strategy that helped reduce her symptoms, and soon began creating the first installments of a graphic memoir. Notes from a Sickbed collects previously released and brand-new, unseen comics that recall her experiences with honesty, a pointed wit, and a lively visual imagination.

Drawing on the four seasons and our deep connection to the natural world, this smart, uplifting and inspiring book will help you master the art of living mindfully, and live a healthier, happier life.

A 20-something photographer is embroiled in crisis in both his life and art. His artwork does not satisfy him; his elderly parents and working-class childhood weigh on him; and his crippling panic attacks are becoming more frequent.

It was the year of Desert Storm that Harvey Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, discovered Harvey had cancer. Pekar, a man who has made a profession out of chronicling the Kafkaesque absurdities of an ordinary life--if any life is ordinary--suddenly found himself incapacitated. But he had a better-than-average chance to beat cancer and he took it--kicking, screaming and complaining all the way. The Pekar/Brabner coalition draws upon this and other trials to paint a portait of a man beset with fears real and imagined--who survives.

First pregnancy can be a fraught, uncomfortable experience for any woman, but for resolutely butch lesbian Teek Thomasson, it is exceptionally challenging: Teek identifies as a masculine woman in a world bent on associating pregnancy with a cult of uber-femininity. Teek wonders, "Can butches even get pregnant?" Of course, as she and her pragmatic femme girlfriend Vee discover, they can. But what happens when they do? Written and illustrated by A.K. Summers, and based on her own pregnancy, Pregnant Butch strives to depict this increasingly common, but still underrepresented experience of queer pregnancy with humor and complexity--from the question of whether suspenders count as legitimate maternity wear to the strains created by different views of pregnancy within a couple and finally to a culturally critical and compassionate interrogation of gender in pregnancy. Offering smart, ambitious art, this graphic memoir is a must-read for would-be pregnant butches and anyone interested in the intersection of birth and gender, as well as a perfect queer baby shower gift and conversation starter for those who always assumed they "got" being pregnant.

During Will Betke-Brunswick's sophomore year of college, their beloved mother, Elizabeth, is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. They only have ten more months together, which Will documents in evocative two-color illustrations. But as we follow Will and their mom through chemo and hospital visits, their time together is buoyed by laughter, jigsaw puzzles, modern art, and vegan BLTs. In a delightful twist, Will portrays their family as penguins, and their friends are cast as a menagerie of birds. In between therapy and bedside chats, they navigate uniquely human challenges, as Will prepares for math exams, comes out as genderqueer, and negotiates familial tension. A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings is an act of loving others and loving oneself, offering a story of coming-of-age, illness, death, and life that announces the arrival of a talented storyteller in Will Betke-Brunswick. At its heart, Will's story is a celebration of a mother-child relationship filled with unconditional devotion, humor, care, and openness.

Rock steady: brilliant advice from my bipolar life is the eagerly awaited sequel/companion book to Forney's 2012 best-selling graphic memoir, Marbles: mania, depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Whereas Marbles was a memoir about her bipolar disorder, Rock Steady turns the focus outward, offering a self-help guide of tips, tricks and tools by someone who has been through it all and come through stronger for it.

Shouta Kikuzato's hopes of starting on his school's prestigious soccer team are derailed when a terrible incident costs him his leg. Now in his first year of high school (again), Kikuzato has resigned himself to never reaching his athletic dreams. But when Chidori, a passing prosthetist, notices Kikuzato's artificial limb-- and speed--as he races through the train station, the specialist proposes a partnership: Chidori will build Kikuzato a brand-new leg designed solely for speed. All Kikuzato has to do is run!

In her early twenties in New York City, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Rachel Lindsay takes a job in advertising in order to secure healthcare coverage for her treatment. But work takes a strange turn when she is promoted onto the Pfizer account and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the curtain, developing ads for an anti-depressant drug. Overwhelmed by her professional life and the self-scrutiny it inspires, her mania takes hold. She quits her job to become an artist, only to be hospitalized by her parents against her will. Over the course of her two weeks in the ward, she tries to find a path out of the hospital and this cycle of treatment. One where she can live the life she wants, finding freedom and autonomy, without sacrificing her dreams in order to stay well.

When Kristen Radtke was in her twenties, she learned that, as her father was growing up, he would crawl onto his roof in rural Wisconsin and send signals out on his ham radio. Those CQ calls were his attempt to reach somebody--anybody--who would respond. In Seek You, Radtke uses this image as her jumping off point into a piercing exploration of loneliness and the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another. She looks at the very real current crisis of loneliness through the lenses of gender, violence, technology, and art. Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to Instagram to Harry Harlow's experiments in which infant monkeys were given inanimate surrogate mothers, Radtke uncovers all she can about how we engage with friends, family, and strangers alike, and what happens--to us and to them--when we disengage.

From artist and curator Bex Ollerton comes an anthology featuring comics from thirty autistic creators about their experiences of living in a world that doesn't always understand or accept them. Sensory: Life on the Spectrum contains illustrated explorations of everything from life pre-diagnosis to tips on how to explain autism to someone who isn't autistic, to suggestions for how to soothe yourself when you're feeling overstimulated. With unique, vibrant comic-style illustrations and the emotional depth and vulnerability of memoir, this book depicts these varied experiences with the kind of insight that only those who have lived them can have.

A brilliant and imaginative debut graphic novel that brings to life a fantastical Cairo where wishes are real. Author, illustrator, and translator Deena Mohamed presents a literary, feminist, Arab-centric graphic novel that marries magic and the socio-political realities of contemporary Egypt. Shubeik Lubeik-a fairytale rhyme meaning "Your Wish is My Command" in Arabic-is the story of three characters navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale; mired in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the more expensive the wish, the more powerful and therefore the more likely to work as intended. The novel's three distinct parts tell the story of three first class wishes as used by Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, each grappling with the challenge inherent in trying to make your most deeply held desire come true.

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after girl scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with the on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends that turn out to be not so friendly. Raina's story takes us from middle school to high school, where she discovers her artistic voice, finds out what true friendship really means and where she can finally ... smile.

Moon is everything Christine isn't. She's confident, impulsive, artistic ... and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known. When Moon's family moves in next door to Christine's, Moon goes from unlikely friend to best friend--maybe even the perfect friend. The girls share their favorite music videos, paint their toenails when Christine's strict parents aren't around, and make plans to enter the school talent show together. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she sometimes has visions of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn't where she really belongs. But when they're least expecting it, catastrophe strikes. After relying on Moon for everything, can Christine find it in herself to be the friend Moon needs?

When Jarrett J. Krosoczka was in high school, he was part of a program that sent students to be counselors at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families. Going into it, Jarrett was worried: Wouldn't it be depressing, to be around kids facing such a serious struggle? Wouldn't it be grim? But instead of the shadow of death, Jarrett found something else at Camp Sunshine: the hope and determination that gets people through the most troubled of times. Not only was he subject to some of the usual rituals that come with being a camp counselor (wilderness challenges, spooky campfire stories, an extremely stinky mascot costume), but he also got a chance to meet some extraordinary kids facing extraordinary circumstances. He learned about the captivity of illness, for sure but he also learned about the freedom a safe space can bring.

After the Earth survived annihilation from an asteroid which was destroyed by a group of heroic astronauts, the resultant meteor shower turned Youngstown, Ohio, into a Level 5 impact zone. After a Columbine-like incident in which a superpowered teenager exploded and killed other youngsters, the Foresight Corporation took over Youngstown to find and regulate any other teenagers with emerging powers. Kayla Tate has returned to Youngstown because her parents are scientists for Foresight. Kayla has reunited with her childhood friend, Jonah Watkins, a young man with Down syndrome. Kayla and Jonah are learning about each other again, as a mysterious new superhuman named Cosmosis has become the Internet sensation as the hero of Youngstown. Kayla discovers that Cosmosis . . . is Jonah! Based on his favorite comic book hero, Jonah is using the secret powers he gained from the meteor shower to help people and fight bad guys. To protect Jonah, and discover the sinister mysteries of her town, Kayla uses her own powers gained from a meteor fragment to fight alongside Jonah as the hero Amina. When Amina and Cosmosis discover that young superpowered people are being kidnapped and trained to become Earth's best line of defense against the possibility of an alien invasion, the two teenage heroes use their abilities to stop Foresight, all the while helping each other navigate through resentment, naivete, and the awkward steps of rekindling their friendship.

Twelve-year-old Simon Pooni was a normal kid with a great life, until multiple sclerosis hit. He lost the ability to walk, went blind in one eye and sometimes could barely speak. Every night, Simon would pray that his multiple sclerosis somehow would go away. "Somehow" turned out to be a magic monkey named Orman, who granted Simon one wish. And with that, Simon stood transformed into a real-life version of Superior, the legendary comic-book hero. Simon spent one glorious week saving those in need, averting natural disasters - becoming the most-beloved man on the planet. But Orman ominously cautioned Simon all would be explained in one week. Will Simon be forced to go back to life in a wheelchair after being the world's greatest hero? Faced with adversity, will he prove himself to truly be...Superior? Collecting SUPERIOR #1-7.

Take a moment and breathe. With Yumi's uplifting guidance, you will dig deeper into your soul to discover the tranquility already surrounding you. With new and revised content, each page offers a unique perspective on how to lead a more mindful life. This book is full of captivating ink illustrations and encouraging words like, "It's okay if the only thing you did today was breathe." This new editions includes mini-sections, such as: Grounding. Inner Child. Self-Love. And more. From simple ways to get rid of a bad mood to instructions for making your intentions come true, her lessons will inspire you to become more aware of the present moment and find stillness no matter where you go.

Founded in 1956, the French psychiatric clinic La Chesnaie is an open and welcoming facility that houses about one hundred people of all ages. It provides traditional forms of care for people with serious mental illness, but it does so in a uniquely supportive environment where patients and caregivers participate equally in the day-to-day operations of the clinic. The driving force of La Chesnaie is the "Club," a nonprofit organization serving as a liaison between the clinic and the outside world. It arranges cultural and recreational outings for the patients as well as activities like concerts and exhibitions that bring the public to La Chesnaie. As a result, days at the clinic are quite lively and never routine. Author Aurélien Ducoudray and illustrator Jeff Pourquié immersed themselves for a time in the culture of La Chesnaie. Like everyone there, including the patients, supervisors, and caregivers, they took part in the daily chores of the clinic, cooking and cleaning. They participated in group events and even led a comics workshop to teach the residents about their craft. The Third Population is the engaging, inspiring, and often poignantly funny result of this project. The Third Population is a sensitive and uncompromising portrayal of daily life in this singular psychiatric health facility where patients are encouraged to build human relationships in spite of the difficulties that mental illness can pose. As the supervisors and caregivers take part in the daily activities of their patients, differences are erased and empathic bonds are formed, with the result that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the patients from the caregivers.

In This is How I Disappear, Mirion Malle paints an empathetic portrait of a young woman wrestling with psychological stress and the trauma following an experience of sexual assault. Malle displays frankness and a remarkable emotional intelligence as she explores depression, isolation, and self-harm in her expertly-drawn novel. Her heroine battles an onslaught of painful emotions and while Clara can provide consolation to those around her, she finds it difficult to bestow the same understanding unto herself. Only when she allows her community to guide her towards self-love does she find relief. Filled with 21st century idioms and social media communication, This Is How I Disappear opens a window into the lives of young people as they face a barrage of mental health hurdles. Scenes of sisterhood, fun nights out singing karaoke, and impromptu FaceTime therapy sessions show how this generation is coping, connecting, and healing together.

Three young men -- Flinch, Bryce, and Rupert -- have vandalized their community. They are sent by its Elders to live nine months on the land as part of the circle sentencing process. There, the young men learn to take responsibility for their actions and acquire the humility required to return home. But will they be forgiven for what they have done? Three Feathers explores the power and grace of restorative justice in one Northern Indigenous community and the cultural legacy that can empower future generations.

There's a real village in Germany called Neuerkerode that is operated by people with mental disabilities - the local restaurant, the local bar, the local supermarket. The author spent two years living 3 or 4 days a week there, researching and getting to know its townsfolk, and the result is an empathetic depiction. This graphic novel is told entirely from a developmentally impaired young man's perspective. Noel had always lived with his mother in Berlin, until one day tragedy strikes and he finds himself alone for the first time. A man with a beard tells him he can't stay in the apartment anymore and takes him to a place with so many strangers ? Who can he trust? Who does he like? Who loves him?

In expanding the story of Kim and her friends, the authors pay tribute to Black sisterhood through portraits of shared, yet deeply personal experiences of Black hair care. From self-care to spilling the tea at an hours-long salon appointment to healing family rifts, the stories are brought to life through beautifully drawn characters and different color palettes reflecting the mood in each story.

Cook is one of over four million other people in the United States who has borderline personality disorder (BPD). She has shown every classic symptom of the disorder since childhood, but wasn't properly diagnosed until nearly a decade later on the believe that she would simply "grow out of it." Here she shares what it's been like to live and love with this disorder. Not just hospitalizations, treatments, and residential therapy, but moments she found comfort in cereal, the color pink, or mini corn dogs; the peace she found when someone held her.

To new mother Sachiko Azuma, her baby boy is the light of her life. Accordingly, she names him Hikaru, Japanese of 'to be bright.' Eager to raise her son, Sachiko gradually begins to notice that Hikaru seems a bit different from other children. He is reluctant to be held or hugged, and his growth and development appear slow. Sachiko's suspicions are confirmed when it is suggested that Hikaru, at a year-and-a-half, may be deaf. A specialist, however, reaches a different diagnosis: autism.

Sachiko and Masato Azuma have overcome numerous obstacles in dealing with their firstborn son Hikaru's autism. Having saved their marriage from ending in ruins, the young couple has welcomed a healthy baby girl, Kanon, into their tight-knit family. But with the obvious differences between Hikaru's and Kanon's developmental abilities, it becomes apparent that social prejudices against Hikaru's disability are never far away.

Admitted to a home for the elderly because he suffers from Alzheimer's disease, Emilio's community life feels like an ordeal. But soon he accepts his new environment and decides to fight to escape from giving in to his awful destiny. Even as his memory flutters, he and new friend Miguel, an overconfident ladies' man, invent creative ways to enliven their daily routines and strike a blow for personal freedom. It all culminates in a foolhardy, madcap, nightime joyride ... of sorts.