Winter Newsletter 2023 Graphic Novels

Zoe and Dani have been best friends forever. They’ve planned an elaborate sightseeing trip to New York City during one of their college breaks, but Dani’s classmate Fiona comes along and throws off the whole dynamic. The Tamaki cousins Jillian and Mariko remind us how insufferable and painfully earnest we all were while we were trying to figure out our true selves. The storytelling in Roaming is deft and the artwork is beautifully sparse and dynamic. Such a triumph! 

—Ivy

Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast is already whimsical, but she hits another level when she dives into the world of dreams. While humorously tackling history and theories, most of I Must Be Dreaming is of Chast’s own dreams, illustrated in her immediately recognizable style and immediately recognizable as genuine dreams to anyone who has ever tried to describe their own upon waking. Read it through or open at random for a quick hit of humor and surrealism—any which way, it’s a needed antidote to everyday reality.  

—Jocelyn

Here’s the painful honest truth: I haven’t read much of Haruki Murakami’s work. He’s one of those authors that I’ve been meaning to get to for ages, but there are just too many choices when it comes to books. This collection of reimagined stories, though, has convinced me it’s time. Each one is delightfully weird and poignant. PMGL’s artwork has an incredible amount of movement to it, enhancing each story’s oddity. What an incredible way to experience Murakami’s work.  

—Ivy

Transitions, based on the true story of a mother learning to understand her transgender son, is eye-opening. In addition to her perspective as a mother, Durand includes observations on the animal kingdom, references to gender nonconformity in other cultures, and poignant letters from her son. The book has a restrained palette and minimalist, abstract illustrations that burst exuberantly into joyous rainbows as Anne grows to accept her son for who he is.  

—Yves