Author: Eileen Gonzalez

Olivia, born to a Nigerian father and a German mother, was always restless. First, she thought boarding school might make her life complete, before learning what an abusive environment it really was. Then she traveled to Germany, where she learned about her mother’s homeland and Olivia’s own precarious place within it.

Tobimatsu was many things: mixed-race, queer, in a relationship…and, at the tender age of 25, diagnosed with cancer. How do you navigate a diagnosis like that when the healthcare system is not built for people like you? And what do you do after you have supposedly “beaten” cancer? This moving memoir explores Tobimatsu’s own experiences.

Think all superheroes live in the U.S.? Nope! Alpha Flight has been protecting Canada since the 1980s. This reboot has the original team getting back together — and returning from the dead — to find themselves on the run from their own government. How can they protect their nation when they have to fight against it?

Dez and Miikwan are best friends. They are also First Nations teens who deal with threats that their peers could never imagine. When Dez is faced with the prospect of being shipped off to a group home after her grandmother falls ill, it’s one challenge too many, and she disappears — leaving Miikwan to look for her and to cope with her potential loss. The sequel is now available, too!

Gwendolyn’s sisters couldn’t be more princess-like, but Gwendolyn herself doesn’t fit the mold and — according to her betrothed — is just plain “ugly.” After running away from home, Gwendolyn realizes there are other “cursed princesses” out there, and that maybe they are all just fine the way they are!

From the celebrated mind of Hayao Miyazaki comes this new tale of sacrifice and adventure! Prince Shuna’s land seems doomed to famine and poverty until a mysterious stranger shows him the seeds of a golden grain that grows in the west. Determined to save his people, Shuna ventures westward, little suspecting the extraordinary — and dangerous — people he will meet along the way.

After being forced to join the school swim team, Bree is certain this year will be a disaster — until her neighbor, an experienced former swimmer, takes Bree under her wing. But as the pressure mounts and the championships approach, can Bree’s newfound love for the water survive?

This adorable webcomic hasn’t been collected in book form, but you can read the whole thing on Webtoon. It tells the story of Choa, a mermaid who can’t swim but longs for the water, and Soo, her classmate who offers to teach her how to swim!

Chris was happy enough getting a job at Vinyl Mayhem, her favorite music store, when she thought that all they did was sell records. But when a popular singer disappears, Chris learns that her coworkers are also vigilantes willing to fight for their beliefs and the rights of others!

Music can help people through the grieving process, but for Setsu, the opposite happens: after his grandfather’s death, he finds he can’t play a note. A trip to Tokyo might be what he needs to regain his creative energy, especially after he meets a young woman with artistic dreams of her own. Who knows how far they can go together?

Kendi’s book has made a lot of waves. In the graphic novel version, you’ll meet five historical figures — from Cotton Mather to Angela Davis — who helped shape America’s views on race and racism…for better and for worse.

In researching the history of slave rebellions, Hall makes a critical discovery: women played a much larger role in those revolts than was previously thought. In this powerful graphic memoir, she recounts both the women’s stories and her own, as the granddaughter of enslaved people whose life has been indelibly marked by racism past and present.

Zuli has spent her whole life safely in the Great Tree with her protector, an owl named Frowly. But when the Tree is threatened, Zuli will have to travel farther than she ever has and face all kinds of dangers, even dragons and witches — and the knowledge of who she really is. The sequel is due out this fall!

In Tami’s culture, once boys reach a certain age, they must leave home and not return until they have become men — whatever that means! Tami decides that the only way to become a man is to acquire the witch’s flower. But what will his single-mindedness mean for the people he has befriended during his quest?

The X5 is the most advanced android ever created. Alex doesn’t particularly want one, but after acquiring Ada, he decides to do something different: allow her to acquire sentience and become an independent being. With that one fateful decision, both their lives will change forever.

Indira and Fawn both want to be photographers. They also aren’t what they seem to be: Indira is a human enhanced by technology, Fawn is an AI — and they don’t get along at all. But with their photography internship in jeopardy, the two will have to learn to work together. When they do, who knows how far their relationship will take them?

While Krug was growing up in Germany, her grandparents never talked about World War II. As she gets older, Krug begins to wonder what role her family played in the 20th century’s most destructive conflict — and she starts digging in search of truths she may not like.

You’ve probably heard of how the U.S. unjustly incarcerated Japanese Americans in the name of “security.” You might also know about how some Japanese Americans bravely served in the 442nd Infantry. But do you know about the people who fought back against the injustices they faced, even refusing to serve a country that did not view them as human beings? This comic tells their incredible stories.

Terry has always felt caught between two worlds: that of his Indigenous family, and that of his non-native classmates. Eventually, unable to deal with it any longer, he starts drinking. It would take a long time — and the discovery of a new life purpose at the Standing Rock protests — for Terry to find his way in the world.

While wrestling with their own gender identity, Ewing started to wonder: is anyone really happy with their gender? Does anyone even know what “gender” means? This comic documents the thoughtful, fascinating, sometimes surprising responses Ewing received from the many people they posed these questions to.